Time to Say Goodbye
by ChillyIce
Summary: SYOC. Closed. Dan Phantom is the strongest ghost in existence. He must be stopped but with no one with the strength to stand up to him. A group of four young halfas must band together and defeat the ultimate enemy.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This will be open until A.) I find all four characters. B.) The end of the week.

* * *

There was one thing he knew; the world was cruel. He had learned this many times in his life. Growing up with an abusive father was the first lesson: might is always right. The second lesson came years later after a tragic lab accident killed him, or at least partially. His best friend married the love of his life and he was left alone to die slowly. But the lesson that stung the most was his most recent failure. He had attempted to help and it blew up in his face quite literally.

"Vlad," a female voice called out causing the man to look to where the blue-skinned woman floated through the ceiling. The man gave an irritated sigh at the cheerful voice. The female ghost gave him a fanged smile which caused her pure red eyes to nearly close. The ghost's white boots clicked on the floor before she put her hands on her hips and lowering her torso so she was eye to eye with the sitting man. "You need to cheer up," she commented.

"And you need a reality check, Catalina," Vlad mumbled. While he saw the world as a dark and horrible place, the woman saw hope. The woman pushed back the black strands of her bangs out of her eyes; the white strands mixing in with the white layers that made the rest of her hair.

"And what is bothering you now?" Catalina asked with a sigh.

"You know exactly what," Vlad said tearing his eyes from the woman to the monitor. On the screen was a blue-skinned ghost with flaming white hair burning down homes and causing mayham. His heart seized knowing he was the one who was to blame.

The ghost woman's red eyes followed his gaze to the monitor. Her smile fell as sorrow crossed her features. "You know we can bring him back. I'm sure Danny is still in there," Catalina said her voice hopeful.

The man scoffed, "How? You damaged your core. Besides even if you had your full strength, you are no match for him." The ghost turned her red gaze away as a pair of white rings passed over her body. The black halter top dress she was wearing replaced with a dark dress suit. The colors in her hair switched so that her black bangs became white while the rest of her hair became black.

"Well, that's okay. I've finally got what you asked me to," Catalina said the smile from before returning. She reached into her purse that appeared with her transformation and pulled out four manila folders. She handed them to Vlad who took them eagerly. Vlad's blue eyes looked at Catalina's brown ones in disbelief.

"I wasn't serious when I asked you," Vlad said sounding frustrated.

"I know you weren't, but I couldn't just sit around in these tunnels and not do anything," Catalina said crossing her arms.

"They'll be your responsibility," Vlad warned, "I want no part in this."

"Even if we can get Danny back?" Catalina asked, "Who knows maybe we can get your ghost half back." Vlad exhaled sharply. The world maybe cruel, but maybe just this once it would work in his favor.

* * *

Hi everyone, so this is my first attempt at a SYOC. So first things first. This fic will take place in an AU where Dan was created. About six months after the incident. In case you didn't notice, I'm needing four OCs.

The rules are simple.

They must be halfas.

Each halfa will be 'younger' than Danny and Vlad meaning they became a halfa after they did.

Teenage OCs are preferable.

Send through PM; no review OC's will be accepted. I do this so all characters will be a surprise.

Now to the form which will also be on my profile for easy copy and paste purpose.

Name: (human name/ ghost name)

Gender:

Age: (14-19 preferable though I'm willing to accept maybe one in their twenties.)

Human Appearance:

Hair color/ style:

Eye color:

Clothing Style:

Height:

Skin tone:

Other:

Ghost Appearance:

Hair color/ style:

Eye color:

Clothing:

Personality (please no lists, give me a good paragraph):

Backstory: (How they became a halfa, family, anything that you think is important to make your character alive)

Ghost Core (you can have a hot or cold core):

Fears:

Skills ( you will have a total of 400 points to divide among the following categories):

Ecto-blasts (how strong is your offence):

Ecto-shields (defense):

Speed:

Determination:

Courage:

Dodging (how well can you avoid an attack):

Stamina:

Learning ability (how fast can your OC learn new skills):

Any goals/ dreams:

Anything else? (anything of importance that you want to add):

* * *

As an example if I was to submit Catalina, I would fill out the form as the following.

Name: Catalina Aozora/ Alma Espanta

Gender: Female

Age: (14-19 preferable though I'm willing to accept maybe one in their twenties.) 29

Human Appearance:

Hair color/ style: Layered hair with bangs. Bangs are white while the rest of her hair was black

Eye color: Dark Brown

Clothing Style: Dress suits and the occasional printed dresses

Height: 5' 2"

Skin tone: Olive with a warm undertone

Other:

Ghost Appearance:

Hair color/ style: Layers are flared outwards and colors are inverted.

Eye color: Completely red

Clothing: Black haltertop dress with white leggings and short cropped boots.

Personality (please no lists, give me a good paragraph): Catalina is optimistic and hopeful. She sees the best in people even those who most would reject. She is cheerful and full of energy. She becomes easily excited and is fiercely protective of her friends and those she considers her family. Catalina is very observant and curious. She can be prone to tease others and to lie if the need suits her. She is impulsive and will often act without thinking.

Backstory: (How they became a halfa, family, anything that you think is important to make your character alive) Catalina had a fairly normal life until the age of eight when her parents died. She was then placed in foster care. She was in the system till she was old enough to leave. She worked her way through college majoring in Business. She became a halfa after an experiment gone wrong at her job. Since then she searched for others like her until she met Vlad.

Ghost Core (you can have a hot or cold core): Hot

Fears: She's afraid of loosing all those she cares about and being left all alone. She's also scared of spiders.

Skills ( you will have a total of 400 points to divide among the following categories):

Ecto-blasts (how strong is your offence):30

Ecto-shields (defense): 80

Speed:50

Determination:50

Courage:40

Dodging (how well can you avoid an attack): 80

Stamina: 10

Learning ability (how fast can your OC learn new skills): 60

Any goals or dreams: She wants a new family of halfas. So she strives to gather all the halfas together so they become one cohesive group. She also wants to give Vlad his ghost half back and to save whatever is left of Danny.

Anything else: Catalina's ghost half is parasitic and feeds off of misery which could help her stamina but she refuses to do so.

Note: This fic will not be kind to anyone. Characters can die. By giving me your OC you have accepted that they may not be the same as they way they entered this fic. If you still want to join I look forward to seeing your creations.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hi everyone, I'm very pleased with the results of this little experiment. So many of you sent in OCs that I changed the number accepted. But seriously, the submissions are now closed. I had put a cap so I could juggle all the characters and hopefully give each the justice they deserve. Anyways, see the bottom for all accepted OCs.

* * *

Catalina gave Vlad a smirk pulling the first file from the pile. "You really did have eyes and ears everywhere," she noted as she looked at the location of the first of halfas. "The Confederacy," she said.

"An absolute monarchy. Ruled by Peter Zindow and Kimi Watanabe-Zindow," Vlad recited without looking at the papers that now were in Catalina's hands.

"I've always wanted to go out of country," the female halfa said happily. Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose like he always did when the woman tested his patience. "Well, then. I'm off. Wish me luck," she chirped. She turned quickly prepared to leave.

"How do you plan to convince the princess to leave her country?" Vlad asked and the woman stopped in her tracks.

"Easy, I'll just use my charm," Catalina said giving the man a big grin.

"What charm?" the ex-hybrid asked. Catalina crossed her arms but didn't say anything to the insult. Vlad chuckled and waved the woman away. The female halfa said goodbye to Vlad once more before leaving the lab. Her heels clicked down the tiled hallway. She didn't really like the cramped feeling she got from being underground, but she understood the necessity of Vlad's underground base. Catalina put a hand to her chest where her core was.

She remembered too well what happened that day. Vlad had asked her to go into the Ghost Zone and she went. She knew that Danny was unstable, but to attack Vlad. Catalina shook her head trying to clear the memories. She could remember the feeling of desperation when she tried to get the both of them out alive. She still bore the scars, so to speak.

Catalina shrugged it off. It didn't matter though; these four halfas will help them. She wouldn't stop until things were as they were before. "Everything is going to be okay," she whispered to herself before she picked up her pace trotting through the tunnels passing several sleeping quarters and a sparring hall. She reached the elevator quickly and pushed the ground level button. She felt the floor shift beneath her feet before rising.

Once on ground level, the halfa stepped out of the lift. She turned around once to see the crumbling shed that disguised the underground base. Catalina looked once into the sky nervously. She shut her eyes once trying to sense any ecto-energy in the nearby area.

There wasn't any sign of the cold-core ghost. Taking a deep breath, Catalina shifted into her ghost form. She lifted off the ground. She kept a low altitude, just in case, Dan was nearby. Picking a southern direction, the halfa flew at top speed.

It took the better half of the day to reach the large island country. Catalina landed roughly, changing back into her human form involuntarily falling to her knees on the warm sand. She looked down at the sand beneath her hands as she panted trying to catch her breath. Catalina pushed herself slowly to her feet. She smiled to herself even though her legs were shaky underneath her.

Picking a direction randomly, the woman walked with a spring in her step. She walked for an hour when she realized that she should have packed a water bottle or something. She sighed to herself, "I guess Vlad is right. I'm going to get myself killed."

DP~DP~DP~

Abigail Albany looked back once at the mansion that she lived in. She didn't want to leave her family, but she couldn't sit around while the evil ghost Dan Phantom was destroying the northeastern states. She had left a note that she was sure her brother would find. Normally she wouldn't leave without telling her parents, but how could she explain to her parents that she was leaving the confederacy to fight an evil ghost in the states. Or for that matter, how could she tell her parents that she was part ghost.

She pulled her gray coat close to her body covering her white shirt. Abigail tightened her dark purple ponytail before leaving her home. The teen left at a brisk walk, her black boots beating the ground. She narrowed her blue eyes in determination.

Her movement was stopped when she ran into a body causing both to fall backwards. Abigail looked blinkingly at the person she bumped into. The woman was wearing a black dress suit which was Abigail's first hint that she didn't live in the area. "I'm so sorry, miss. I should have looked where I was going," Abigail apologized getting to her feet. The woman jumped to her feet.

"No problem," she said with a wide smile. "The name's Catalina by the way," the woman introduced herself easily.

"My name's Abigail."

Catalina's eyes widened comically, "Albany? Abigail Albany?" The teen nodded her head a little hesitantly wondering how the woman knew her name. "I'm so glad I found you," the woman squealed pulling the teen into a hug.

Abigail was unsure how to react to the overly excited woman. "Why were you looking for me?" Abigail asked. Catalina separated herself from the teen.

"Oh, yea, that probably is very important information," Catalina said chuckling to herself. "Oh, man, Vlad was right. How do I word this without sounding crazy?"

Abigail waited patiently while the older woman tried to find the right words to say. She could see that the woman was getting frustrated. "Oh, I got it," Catalina said excitedly before a pair of white rings spread over her body leaving a ghostly form in their wake. Abigail took a step back a little shocked.

"You're a halfa, too?" the teen asked smiling at the thought of someone else like her.

"Yup," Catalina said quickly. "That's why I need your help. I'm pretty sure you've seen the news," her red eyes darted down for a moment before she put on a small smile. "It's the only story being aired now. Evil Ghost destroyed this and this city."

"I've seen it. I was actually going over to see how I can help," Abigail said.

"Really?" Catalina said relieved, "That makes my job so much easier. You see, I'm trying to gather halfas like us to stand up to Dan."

Abigail couldn't believe her luck to run into not only another halfa, but one with the same goal as her. "So there are others like me? I can't wait to meet them."

Catalina gave a cheeky grin, "I can't wait to meet them too."

DP~DP~DP~

Abigail looked at the rundown shed. "So this is your headquarters? It looks…rustic?" Abigail said trying to be polite to the woman who seemed so relieved to be back.

"It's an underground organization. Literally," the woman said with a chuckle motioning to the shed before stepping in. "Come on in. Don't worry. It's more stable than it looks," the older halfa said.

Abigail smiled at the other's enthusiasm before entering the shed. The younger halfa stepped in confidently. "So how long have you been underground?" Abigail asked.

"For a while now, but don't worry. It's really nice down there," Catalina said quickly.

"Do I get my own room?" Abigail asked.

"Of course," Catalina answered as the elevator started its downward decent.

"Alright, hopefully it's as big as the one I have back at home," Abigail said already thinking of all the possibilities.

"Yea, after you see your room, we can go and bake cookies. I love baking. And cookies."

"I have a bit of a sweet tooth myself," Abigail said excitedly following the older halfa through the tunnels.

"There's someone I'll like you to meet first," Catalina said hooking her arm with Abigail and picking up the pace.

Abigail watched as the woman expertly guided her through the tunnels into a laboratory. A white-haired man sat reading a book. "Hey, Vlad," Catalina called out excitedly, "Guess who I found?"

The man's dark blue eyes looked up at the two halfas. "Wait, you're Vlad Masters," Abigail interrupted, "Wow, you're like the richest man ever. What are you doing here? Are you a halfa too?" Catalina squirmed at the last question.

Vlad rolled his eyes clearly annoyed, "Great now there are two of you."

"I know. Isn't it great," Catalina said.

Vlad sighed, "That has yet to be seen."

* * *

A/N: Okay so funny story. Since I totally forgot to ask about geographical location, some characters that are further away will be introduced before those you are closer.

Anyways here is the list of all accepted OCs:

Abigail Albany (15) submitted by TheDisneyFan365

Alex Stone (17) submitted by Alex The God Killer

Thalen Ishimaru (16) submitted by El Diablo's Raven

Sylvia Morehouse (14) submitted by AwesomeAuthor13

Leon Strife (17) submitted by HiroshitheHawk

Robin Peary (18) submitted by fire assassin

Gwendolyn 'Gwen' Lockhart (17) submitted byMissAmeliaYoung

Pleas be sure to follow and review. Oh and if you have any suggestions go ahead and just tell me. For example, if you want your OC to say something specific or something, just PM or leave a review. If I don't write the character the way you like, go ahead and tell me. I won't feel offended as long as you're polite about it.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi everyone. I know these chapters are coming pretty fast and they probably will until all the characters are introduced, but I can't promise anything. If your OC has been accepted please review, it helps me know if I'm going the right direction. Besides that I had a question about romance in this fic. So I'm willing to accept it, but there is a single rule. If paired with another submitted OC, both authors need to agree with the pairing and message me about it. I'll also like to take this time to thank TheDisneyFan365, El Diablo's Raven, and Alex The God Killer for following and or favoriting this fic. Also thank you to all those who reviewed.

* * *

Abigail woke up. She blinked her eyes a couple of times not recognizing where she was. The bare room was definitely not her own. The memories of the day before hit her suddenly; the other halfa, Vlad, and underground tunnels. Her blue eyes searched the dark room for some sort of light switch. Luckily, halfas have decent night vision, so Abigail found the switch. The room was lit instantaneously showing the plain gray walls. Abigail looked at the room with a smile; she could already imagine the changes she could make to transform the room.

She prepared for her day like she normally did. She pulled back her dark purple hair into a ponytail. She put on her favorite outfit consisting of a white shirt, gray pants, and a long gray coat. She tugged on her black boots last.

Her stomach growled causing Abigail to finally venture out of her room. She looked down the empty hallways hoping to catch a glimpse of Catalina or Vlad. The hallway was completely empty. She did however smelled the alluring smell of something baking. Abigail followed the scent eager to eat whatever was baking at the moment.

She passed several doors until she found one that was slightly ajar. The teen halfa could hear voices on the other side. "….what makes you think that it's your responsibility to catch Dan?" Vlad said clearly frustrated.

"It's both our responsibility. It's our fault he's like this," Catalina said her normally cheerful voice also frustrated.

"The best thing for us is just to live the rest of our lives in peace. Leave the world to its own devices," Vlad said firmly.

"What about the other halfas? If Dan gets a whiff of them, what will he do? I'll answer that he will kill them," Catalina's voice getting louder in volume. "He doesn't want any challengers."

"The more reason for you and me to stay underground," Vlad stated. Catalina gave a tense sigh. "Let's imagine that hypothetically you gather all these halfas and somehow they can work together. Can you really tell them to destroy Dan?"

"We're not destroying Danny. We're going to help him. Who knows maybe we can get Plasmius back. Don't you want that?" Catalina asked.

"Danny is gone, Catalina. You need to accept that," Vlad said ignoring the woman's question.

"No he's not. He's still there. I know-"

"You saw what that ghost did to Danny," Vlad interrupted his tone not allowing for any argument. "Can you see any humanity in that?"

At this point, Abigail started to feel a little guilty listening in on the adults' conversation. "Wow, something smells good in here," she said loudly as a warning before entering. The tension was clear in the room. Both Vlad's blue eyes and Catalina's brown eyes stared at her before they met each other's gaze again. "So, what are you making?" Abigail asked trying to break the tension.

"Vlad made some omelets and I baked some muffins," Catalina answered with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Vlad is actually a good cook," Catalina added.

"Oh, maybe you can teach me some time," Abigail said to the man.

"Perhaps," Vlad answered curtly.

Abigail was unsure how to talk to the older man. " Where did you learn to cook?" she asked trying to keep the conversation going.

"I learned to cook during my university years. It was that or the horrible food in the dining hall," Vlad answered. Catalina placed a plate in front of both Vlad and Abigail.

The purple-haired teen took a bite; it was delicious. "Wow, this is very good," she said after she swallowed her first bite.

The older man gave a small smile, "Did you expect otherwise?"

Abigail thought about it for a moment, "Maybe a little. This is really good though."

"It has to be good. Catalina hasn't said anything in the last couple of minutes," Vlad stated pointed out the female halfa who was munching on a muffin. Catalina gave a quick glare, but went back to enjoying her food.

"Catalina is going to be taking you to Texas today. There is a halfa there we will like to recruit," Vlad said to the younger halfa.

"I haven't been to Texas before," Abigail said.

"That's a shame. It's only the best place on Earth," Catalina cut in finishing the last of her meal.

"Are you from Texas, Catalina?" Abigail asked.

"I was born there and lived there most of my life," Catalina answered. "So I'm actually really excited to go back." Catalina smiled and held out her hand to take Abigail's empty plate.

"Should I go pack some things?" Abigail asked.

"Yes, if you don't, Catalina definitely won't," Vlad said. "There are water bottles in the pantry and some snacks in the cabinet."

"Thanks, Vlad," Abigail said before setting out to gather the needed materials while Catalina washed the dishes. Both halfas finished their respective chores within minutes of each other.

"See you later, Vlad," Catalina said before shifting into her ghost form. Abigail followed suit. When the pair of white rings passed over her, her hair became darker and her outfit shifted colors to black and purple.

"Bye Vlad," Abigail said with a wave following Catalina as she hurried out of the kitchen.

DP~DP~DP

Alex Stone unlocked the door to his home. He walked in dropping his backpack by the entrance. "Tia, are you home?" he called out, not expecting much. His aunt was hardly ever home. Even if she was home, it wouldn't have made a difference. She never paid any attention to him; she didn't even know that he was constantly bullied at school.

He ran his hand through his black spiky hair before settling on the couch in front of the TV. He found the remote and turned on the television. A banner reading 'breaking news' ran across the screen before being replaced by two reporters behind their desk. Alex listened to the story with interest. It was about the crazy ghost up north. Alex watched with interest; he had only seen a couple of ghosts in his home town and most were harmless. This ghost was entirely different though; he seemed to enjoy the violence and pain he was causing.

Alex shuddered before a cool stream of air exited his mouth. He knew that a ghost was nearby. A knock came from his door. Alex looked at the door confused; the ghost wouldn't knock on his door would they? Alex got off the couch and walked hesitantly to the door. He opened the door partially to see who was at the door. His black eyes widened when he didn't see anybody at the door.

He took a hesitant step out. "Hello. Alex is it?" a female voice said. Alex turned suddenly at the noise to see a purple-haired girl and a woman with black and white hair.

"Who are you?" Alex asked coldly. His tone didn't look to change the smile on both of their faces.

"My name is Catalina," the woman greeted with a chirp.

"And I'm Abigail," the girl added.

"What do you want?" Alex asked feeling a little uncomfortable with the two strangers.

"That is a little hard to explain. You see we know what you are," Catalina explained.

"And what do you think I am?" Alex asked.

"You're half ghost just like us," Abigail said.

Catalina spoke up excitedly," And we need you to-"

"No. I'm not going to. Goodbye," Alex said retreating back into his house and slamming the door.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hi everyone, I hope you all had a great day. I'm just leaving this here. Remember if your character isn't written the way you want him or her to be just PM and I'll try to fix it. :)

* * *

Alex stepped away from the door. He walked to one of the nearby windows to see if the two strangers had left. Without making too much movement he looked out through the blinds. The girl with the purple hair was speaking to the older woman.

The woman responded back before she faced the door once again. "Alex, open the door," she called out. The teenage boy scoffed; did they really think he was going to listen to them. "You do realize I can just phase through the door right?" she said. Alex sighed irritated before going back to the door.

He opened it quickly. "You have five minutes before I call the cops," he said crossing his arms.

The woman nodded with a smile. "Thank you. Okay, where was I? Oh yea. So we know you're a halfa. Um… Do you see that?" Catalina asked pointing to the television. Alex glanced at the screen quickly to see the image of the evil ghost. His red eyes staring through the screen right at the black-haired teen.

"What about it?" he asked coldly.

"I'm gathering people like us to stop him," Catalina said quickly.

"Why should I care?" Alex asked coldly trying to figure out the woman's intentions.

"Because I care about what happens to you," Catalina answered swiftly. "And if he figures out there's a halfa anywhere, he will kill you."

"And why do you care?"

"Because you're my family," the woman said with a chuckle like it was obvious.

"You're not my family."

" Really? What is a family? A group of people with similar genetics. Who else on this planet can you say share your ghostly DNA," the woman asked her words were quick and barely understandable. Alex couldn't answer the question. "I know you don't trust me and I'll leave after this. I can offer whatever you need and want. What is here for you?... An empty house?" With that the woman gave a sad smile before motioning for the younger girl to follow. The pair left the porch and Alex shut the door slowly.

He walked to the kitchen to grab himself something to eat. A picture on the fridge caught his attention. It was of a man and woman with a young child between them. He took it off with a smile remembering the two adults in the picture and the days he spent with them.

He knew what he was going do and it wasn't going to be staying in this home with an aunt who doesn't care a thing about him. He hurried to his room and tossed his clothing into a duffel bag. Grabbing a couple of pictures of his parents, he left in a hurry. He locked the front door behind him.

Slowing down, he stepped into the yard. He tried to look nonchalant as he looked for the two halfas. Catalina and Abigail were waiting on the sidewalk chatting to themselves before turning to Alex. "You're coming?" Abigail asked hopefully

"Obviously," Alex said motioning to the duffel bag.

"Yay," Catalina said springing up and pulling him into a hug in one swift motion. Alex stiffened uncomfortable with the sudden display of affection. She separated faster than he could push her away. "Woah, chilly," she said with a laugh. "Cold core," she mumbled to herself. She added in a louder voice, "I'm so glad you changed your mind. We're going to have so much fun. Wait and see."

Alex didn't really believe that, but if going with these people got him away from his aunt, then he'll play along. "Sure," he said without any enthusiasm.

"It'll be nice to have someone closer to my age. Not that I don't like hanging out with you Catalina," Abigail said adding the last sentence to make sure the woman wasn't offended.

"Of course not. I'm tons of fun to be around," Catalina said. "I think you'll enjoy our underground base. You'll get your own room that you can decorate. Vlad added a game room. I told him that you kids needed some form of entertainment. I don't think my library will entertain all of you."

"That sounds good, doesn't it, Alex?" Abigail asked.

"Sure," Alex answered coldly.

"What movies do you have?" Abigail asked the older halfa.

"I really don't know. How about this, we'll stop by a store and I'll get you whatever you want. Reasonable wants, of course. I'm not a millionaire," Catalina said, "Where is the store?"

Alex pointed in the general direction. Catalina thanked him before walking with a skip in her step. He wondered what he had agreed to.

DP~DP~DP

Vlad heard the halfas before he saw them. He could distinctly hear Catalina and Abigail chatting away. He looked up from his book as the voices came closer. "Good Evening, Vlad," Catalina greeted as she entered the kitchen. "I bought the kids pizza," she said motioning behind her. Abigail entered the room with a polite greeting. Behind the teenage girl, a boy with black spiky hair entered with his arms crossed. The boy didn't say anything to the man. "Vlad, this is Alex. Alex meet Vlad. Now that intros are out of the way, I say we watch a movie. I imagine you ate, right, Vlad?" The older man didn't verbally answer knowing the woman had already took note of the empty plate in front of him. Catalina picked up the plate before turning to Abigail. "Abigail, can you show Vlad what we bought?" Catalina asked.

The teen girl nodded emptying a store bag of various DVDs. Vlad scanned over the titles quickly assessing that Abigail and Catalina had chosen most of them. He had to chuckle when he caught sight of 'The Phantom of The Opera.' Eventually Catalina, Abigail, and Vlad chose a movie that all three could watch without too many complaints. Alex had refused to speak the entire time, choosing instead to look at the trio suspiciously.

Vlad watched as Catalina hooked her arm with Abigail. She looked briefly at Alex, but apparently decided against dragging along which was strange but Vlad didn't comment. The woman did however offer her arm to him. He rolled his eyes, but took it anyways. "Come on, we wouldn't want to stay up too late tonight," Catalina said pulling at the two she ensnared. Alex didn't look amused but followed anyways.

The game room wasn't impressive at least to Vlad's standards, but it seemed to impress the halfas. Even Alex looked a little shock at the size of the screen. "I'll put in the movie," Catalina chirped happily releasing her hold on her captives and hurried to the DVD player.

She returned moments later with the remote in hand. Abigail sat down on the theater seat next to Alex. Vlad sat a couple of seats away before Catalina took the seat between Abigail and himself. The movie started before Catalina spoke to Vlad. "The next one is in Hong Kong," Catalina said quietly to Vlad.

"You going through the Ghost Zone?" Vlad asked knowing that a flight across the ocean would be taxing on the woman.

"Yup, it will be exciting to visit it again. It's been too long," the woman said in a tone that most would hear as excited, but Vlad had been around the woman to know that she was nervous.

"Frightened?" Vlad teased.

"No," the woman said before chuckling nervously. "Just excited, we might even get the last halfa that is Wisconsin." She said this with a smile while nervously twisting her hands.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hello, It's me...again. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Catalina paced the length of the kitchen while Vlad, Abigail, and Alex ate in silence. "Catalina, please sit," Vlad said after noticing the woman's pacing. Catalina nodded and took a spot next to Alex. She tapped nervously on the table which earned her a quick glare from Alex.

"Are you okay, Catalina?" Abigail asked concern clearly on her face.

Catalina gave a quick smile, "Yup, never better." It was a lie, but she hoped they couldn't see how afraid she was. Vlad might have narrowed his eyes at her, but she didn't notice. "So Alex, do you have any ideas on what to do with your room?" Catalina asked cheerfully.

Alex shrugged, "Not really."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something great," Catalina said trying to get her excited voice back.

"You should be leaving now if you want to recruit both halfas today," Vlad said giving Catalina a look that clearly read _stop stalling_.

"Yup, we should get going. Maybe I should find a Chinese dictionary before we head out," Catalina said. Vlad smirked before pushing a book across the table to her. "Oh, I guess there's nothing keeping us here. Let's go, team Halfa," Catalina cheered. Abigail gave a polite smile changing into her ghost form as she got up from the table. Alex got up without a word and changed into his ghost form as well. His spikey black hair flattened down and lightened to an almost gray color. His now dark purple eyes looked at Catalina coldly.

The woman smiled at him before saying goodbye to Vlad and leading the two halfas to the elevator to take them to the surface.

…..

Catalina landed at the edge of Vlad's old castle making sure to keep her senses sharp just in case Dan decided to show up. She stepped lightly into the rubble trying not to disturb anything. "What is this place?" Abigail asked.

"It was Vlad's home. Before Dan destroyed it," Catalina said, "Let's not stay here long. We should find the ghost portal and get out of here." She let the teens take the lead while she concentrated on searching for any ecto-energy in the area.

She felt a slight chill as a large source of cold ecto-energy entered the nearby area. The sensation caused her to start to panic. "You two need to shift back, now," the woman said with urgency. Catalina turned human once again. The teens shifted back as well. The woman hoped that Dan wouldn't bother to inspect three human heartbeats.

"What's going on?" Abigail asked. Catalina raised her hands in a pushing motion, but avoided touching either halfa.

"Shh. Let's just hope he doesn't find us," Catalina said not bothering to hide the fear in her voice.

Abigail's pale face became even paler when she realized what had the older halfa so nervous. "Shouldn't we be fighting him?" she asked.

Catalina looked at the younger halfa, shaking her head. "Not right now, I rather keep my core in my body thank you," she said. "Let's go before he gets any closer. If you happen to see a pair of metal gloves please pick them up they are very important." Catalina urged the two teens to pick up the pace.

"There's the portal," Alex said pointing at the metal ring.

"Great, see this wasn't too bad," Abigail said. Catalina nodded in agreement with a nervous chuckle which was cut off by her ghost sense; the red hot steam burned her lips and tongue.

Catalina turned ghost turning around and put up a blue ecto-shield just as a bright green ecto-blast slammed into it. She grit her teeth at the impact that rattled the energy field. "Alex, the code is 011572." Catalina narrowed her eyes at the source of the ecto-blast.

"Aren't you tired of this cat-and-mouse game, Cat?" a deep male voice asked.

DP~DP~DP

Abigail didn't know what to do. Alex, in ghost form, had already run to the portal and started to punch in the code that Catalina yelled out. The oldest halfa was currently trying to stare down a ghost that towered over her. The ghost's hair was like white hot fire crackling on top of his head. Abigail gathered energy to her hands before shooting an ecto-blast at the ghost aiming for the DP emblem on his chest.

The ghost created a duplicate that formed a green ecto- shield blocking the attack. Abigail realized the error in her action as now the duplicate had his red eyes on her. The duplicate sped toward Abigail who put up a shield. A green ecto-blast hit the charging ghost square in the chest.

Dan turned to where the attack had come from to see Alex before another ecto-blast came Dan's way. Dan disappeared momentarily before appearing in front of Alex. "Alex," Abigail called out nervously she shot an ecto-blast at the evil ghost and Alex put up a shield to block the evil ghost.

Abigail's blast stuck the ghost along with a blue disk. Dan was distracted momentarily. Something glinted at the evil ghost's feet catching Abigail's attention. "The gloves," Abigail whispered to herself. Gathering her courage, she flew toward the ghost aiming to grab the gloves. She slid under the ghost's feet, grabbing the gloves pulling them from their crater. Abigail smiled triumphantly at her prize before she fell forward as she was hit.

The purple-haired teen looked up at the floating ghost with his hands full of green energy. A blur of black and white tackled the ghost to the ground. Abigail turned to the portal which was opened and flew straight into it. As the teen tumbled through, she looked back for Alex and Catalina.

"You made it," Alex's voice said.

"Where's Catalina?" Abigail asked concerned for the woman. She looked at the portal nervously. A ghostly figure sped in before the portal collapsed in on itself. Abigail and Alex floated closer to the floating figure.

"Catalina?" Abigail asked. The woman turned slowly to the pair. The oldest halfa looked ragged; she didn't look injured, but her shoulders slumped tiredly. Abigail floated forward and pulled the woman's arm over her own shoulders.

"You two aren't hurt are you?" the woman asked wearily, her red eyes darted over the two teens.

"Yea, we're fine," Alex answered while Abigail nodded.

"Good," Catalina said with a small smile. "That way, Abigail and let's be quick about it," the woman pointed to the trio's right.

DP~DP~DP

The teen with dark blue eyes searched through the crowd for his next target. His gray running shoes hit the ground at a steady beat. He found what he was searching for. A woman with black hair and white bangs wearing an expensive looking dress suit; she was sure to have a good amount of cash on her. Thalen walked a little faster 'accidently' bumping into the woman. He turned his hand intangible grabbing into the woman's purse to snatch her wallet.

"I'm sorry, I should watch where I am going," the woman said apologetically. Thalen waved off the apology before walking off. He lifted the wallet to his face to look at the contents. There were several bills which he pocketed. He tipped the wallet over to empty it completely. Two photos fell out. In one photo, Thalen saw himself standing in front of a convenient store. The teen looked at the photo in shock before hurrying his pace.

"Hey, you, come back," the woman's voice called out.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: hey everyone, sorry this took a little while. My mom went into the hospital yesterday. Don't worry everything is fine. I've just been visiting with her. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if I wander too far from your character.

* * *

"Are you sure that's him?" Abigail asked the woman who was pushing her way through the crowd. She followed the oldest halfa through the crowd. The teen was slightly worried with the unsteady way Catalina was walking.

"Of course, I'm sure. Thalan Ishimaru," Catalina said nodded her head.

"Why don't I get him? I'm faster," Alex said. Catalina looked at the black haired teen and gave him a nod.

Alex took off darting through the crowd. He kept his sights on the other teen's black buzz cut. He didn't know why he was doing this for the woman, but he thought back to their brief battle with Dan. Catalina put herself between them and the evil ghost; his aunt wouldn't have done that even for him, nevertheless for two teens she barely met.

Alex shook his head deciding he could figure it out later. For now, he was going to catch up to the slightly taller teen. He was slowly gaining on him. Thalen looked over his shoulder, his dark blue eyes locking with Alex's black ones.

Thalen darted to the left vaulting over a fence as if it was nothing. Alex stopped at the same structure and watched as the other teen climbed up the walls of a nearby building. Thalen landed on the building's balcony before jumping to the next building's balcony.

Alex climbed the fence slowly. He was slightly impressed by the way the other halfa bounded across the buildings with ease without his ghost abilities. Once over the fence, Alex followed on foot.

DP~DP~DP~

Thalen looked back to see the black-haired teen still following him. He frowned. Thalen climbed higher feeling perfectly at ease scrambling through the city's buildings.

He ducked and weaved through the buildings effortlessly. He looked down once more to see that the teen that was following him was no longer there. He smirked to himself. "Guess he couldn't handle it," Thalen mumbled to himself. The teen climbed down slowly; he could always float down using his ghost half, but he enjoyed using any nearby structures as his jungle gym.

Thalen's shoes hit the ground softly. "Thalen," a female voice called out. The teen turned to face the woman with the black and white hair. He debated whether to run or not. "I'm not mad about the wallet. I just want to talk," she said clearly out of breath. The question came up again: run or not run? The woman didn't look like one of those scientists. The teen gave her a fake quizzical look; the woman would probably explain herself. "Oh right, you might not speak English." She held up her hand in the universal signal to wait. Thalen suppressed the urge to roll his eyes; of course the ditz thought he only spoke Chinese. She opened her purse and pulled out a book. "Okay, I know how to do this," she said to herself. Thalen watched as she flipped through page by page. " Let's see….Wǒ.." The woman flipped through more pages. " méi….. shēngqì. Wǒ… zhǐ… xūyào… hé …nǐ.. tán tán." The woman stumbled through the foreign words with difficulty. Thalen knew Chinese fairly well, but he wasn't going to give the woman the satisfaction of knowing that he understood her.

Thalen kept himself from grinning and shrugged at the woman. "I must have said that wrong," the woman said to herself obviously very flustered. The teen couldn't help but enjoy the discomfort in the other.

The woman tried again flipping through page after page to say another broken sentence in Chinese. The woman's brow began to furrow in frustration. Thalen acted as though he didn't understand the woman. At this point, the black-haired teen appeared along with a girl with a purple ponytail. The girl had a pair of large metal gloves in her hands.

"Here, one of you see if you can talk to him," the woman said holding out the book.

"I'll try, Catalina," the girl said handing the gloves to the boy and grabbing the book. The purple-haired teen flipped through the book quickly. She read off a couple of words. Thalen shook his head.

"Maybe he doesn't speak Chinese," the black-haired teen added.

"Well, what language would he speak, Alex?" Catalina asked.

"How about English?" Thalen asked with an arrogant tone. "You're definitely not the brightest bulb in the pack are you, _Chòu yòu_?"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you," Catalina said with a smile. The girl flipped through the Chinese dictionary looking for what Thalen had said. She paused and her blue eyes widened. Thalen smirked at the response figuring the girl found out what the words meant. "I just wanted to catch you to tell you that you're not alone. You're not the only half ghost in existence."

"So you're also crazy. That's great. Well, Lady. You're not getting your wallet back, so you can run along and enjoy your vacation," Thalen said. He pushed past the woman which wasn't hard given his height advantage.

"I just wanted you to know that you're not alone. And you don't have to be alone. We have a place for you," Catalina called out to the teen. Thalen rolled his eyes.

DP~DP~DP~

Catalina watched as the taller teen walked off. She normally would run after him and irritated him until she got him to actually talk to her, but her little altercation with Dan left her feeling drained. "Okay, you two. We'll find him tomorrow. I don't know about you two, but I'm exhausted."

"Um, Catalina," Abigail spoke up, "Do you know what he called you?"

"No, why?" Catalina asked not seeing what the issue was. Abigail handed the book over to Catalina who read the page. "Skunk," she read out loud before tugging at the white strands of her bangs. Catalina saw herself as a patient person, but she was a woman which means she was very sensitive about her hair. The woman snarled and her eyes glowed red. "That little," the rest of the sentence was lost into grumbles as Catalina sprinted after the teen dropping the dictionary on the ground.

DP~DP~DP~

Thalen walked out of the store with bags of food. He was very lucky that the crazy woman had plenty of cash in the wallet. He munched on a candy bar as he walked through the crowded streets. The teen walked to an old abandoned building. After going through one of the poorly boarded up windows, he set his food down. "Hey guys, I've just saved your sorry hides from starvation again," he called out to the seemingly empty building.

With this call, several shadows moved. People of various shapes came into view. Old and young. These people in rags came forward to see what Thalen had brought. "Hey, Daquan. Look at what I got for you," the teen called out to a small boy who walked up to him. The teen reached into his pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar.

The child's face lit up at the simple gift. "Thank you, Thalen," the child said as he received the candy. Thalen gave the kid a smile before turning to leave. A loud scream caused Thalen to look back around. The crowd of people were scattering as something floated down from the ceiling.

The ghostly being was a female with blue skin and red eyes. She landed on the ground in front of Thalen and grabbed the front of his purple over shirt grasping at the black shirt that was underneath it as well. "You're going to apologize right now," the ghost hissed showing off her fangs.

* * *

A/N: Just a note. That the nickname that Thalen gave Catalina is purely based on her black and white hair color. Also I'm not an artist, so if anyone wants to draw a cover page or even the characters themselves that would be awesome.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hi everyone, I would like to thank Rhimona for following and favoriting this fic and myself. I'm not really happy with this chapter, but I hope you enjoy. Oh and for all the single characters, Abigail's creator, TheDisneyFan365, is willing for Abigail to be paired with any character.

* * *

Thalen looked at the ghost woman with a smirk. "Do I know you?"

The woman narrowed her red eyes. "You know exactly who I am," she snarled. Thalen looked at the woman from head to toe.

His eyes focused on the color motif of the woman's hair. "Oh, you're the _Chòu yòu_ ," Thalen said with a grin. His face was slammed into the ground. He blinked once; he didn't expect the woman to hit him.

"My name is Catalina. And I still haven't heard that apology," the ghost woman said. Thalen became intangible before shifting into his ghostly persona. His gray running shoes became black boots that stopped just above his shins, white pants replaced blue jeans. The teen's black and purple shirt combo replaced with a black sleeveless shirt with a white hooded vest.

"You haven't gotten your apology because I'm not giving it," Thalen said with a smirk crossing his arms.

Catalina clenched her fists before she swung. The teen dodged the attack. She swung her left fist missing the teen again. She stomped her foot on the ground and Thalen slipped as something solid and slippery formed under his feet. He floated before he hit the ground rising above the woman's head. The floor he was standing on had a shimmering energy field similar to an ecto-shield.

Thalen knew this warehouse like the back of his hand and knew that he was near a hanging chain. He swung the chain at the woman who dodged it just as easily. He narrowed his neon orange eyes at the woman who was decidedly lighter on her feet than he thought.

She stomped again and the shield on the floor shattered like pieces of glass before flying up toward the floating halfa. Thalen turned intangible and all the shards of ecto-energy floated harmlessly through him. He gathered energy into his hands solidifying it into knife-like shapes. He swung his hand outward causing the knives to fly toward the woman.

She smiled before dancing out of the way of each blade. Thalen floated away through the rafters before rounding back at the woman for a sneak attack. She held up her hands and a shimmering blue shield formed in front of her. Thalen put his feet toward the shield and pushed off to prevent himself from slamming into the shield.

He listened to the click of the woman's boots as she followed him. Thalen smirked as he floated through the rafters knowing she had to come to his level to continue the fight.

DP~DP~DP

Catalina narrowed her eyes at the floating teen trying to keep up on foot. She was furious, but she could feel exhaustion setting in. "All I want is an apology," she shouted to the teen. One blue ecto-blast flew by the teen's head.

"Why don't you make me? Or is that what you're trying to do?" Thalen bragged from above the woman. Another blue ecto-blast flew by the teen. A couple of ecto-knives flew by the woman who danced around them again.

"Catalina, are you here?" Abigail's voice called out. The woman ignored the teen. She was going to teach the floating halfa respect. A couple more ecto-knives flew in her direction and she floated above them. She was going to end this quickly; she could already smell the sweet scent of misery which told her she had less than a minute before she would be forced into her human form. She darted after the teen flying top speed, but the other halfa remained well ahead. She dove quickly as an unsuspecting bar appeared out of nowhere. She barely missed the obstacle. She shot an ecto-blast at the teen which grazed his shoulder before she noticed the wire mesh hanging from the ceiling. Catalina couldn't stop in time causing her to collide with the mesh. She dropped to the ground roughly.

"Are you okay, Catalina?" Abigail's voice came from her right before a hand laid itself on the woman's shoulder. "You should have rested before chasing after Thalen," the girl said gently.

The woman lowered her head sighing as she changed back to her human form. Her anger slowly faded just like her energy. "You're so right, Abigail. Thank you for your concern," she said with a smile.

"You giving up?" Thalen's voice asked as the teen floated down closer. The whites of his eyes were black which only made his neon eyes shine brighter. "I thought you were tougher than that," the teen continued.

Catalina wanted to mumble something about fighting an actual threat, but held her tongue. Instead she grinned making sure to bare her fangs. "You weren't worth the effort," she said before turning around and walking away.

"So he doesn't qualify as family?" Alex asked as the two female halfas neared him.

Catalina chuckled, "Oh he's family. We don't always get along with family, do we?" She shrugged. "We just give each other space to cool down and then we talk." The woman didn't look over her shoulder once as she walked toward the exit. "Come on Alex and Abigail. Let's get some dinner," the woman said as she walked away, "You can come as well, Thalen. You just need to give me my wallet back." She looked up at the floating teen.

"You're paying?" Thalen asked.

"Am I? You have my wallet," she reminded. The teen landed on the ground. "I'm even willing to let you choose where we eat," she said with a smile.

"I guess you owe me a meal. After all, I won that fight," Thalen said tossing the wallet to Catalina who caught it.

"Sure, Thalen. Whatever you say," Catalina said rolling her eyes. The teen got closer to the woman before she swung her purse catching the teen's head. " Oh I'm so sorry," she apologized in a sarcastic tone. "Come on let's get going. I'm starving," she said rubbing her stomach, the last traces of her anger evaporating.

DP~DP~DP~

Abigail watched as the woman led the three teens out of the warehouse. "It's pretty nice that you help all the people here, Thalen," Abigail said trying to strike up conversation.

"If I didn't they would have starved by now," Thalen said arrogantly.

"Or they are just taking advantage of you," Alex joined in.

"Who asked for your opinion?" Thalen asked the shorter teen.

Abigail stepped between the two teens. "Come on, we're going to eat a nice dinner and then get some much needed rest." She tried to remain positive, but she wondered how the four of them could handle Dan if they couldn't even get along with each other.

* * *

A/N: I hope this fight scene was okay. I was trying to balance each character and showcase abilities. I hope I did okay.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing well. I'm not quite pleased with this chapter, but it is transitory to get to the next halfa.

* * *

"So how are you planning on paying for this meal?" Thalen asked his voice in that arrogant tone that Alex found irritating.

Catalina grinned before reaching into her jacket and pulling out a plain wallet before putting back into its hiding spot. "So, what are you guys getting?" she said with a smile. The four gave their orders and waited for their food to arrive.

"So, Thalen. Do you live near here? Would your parents be worried about you?" Abigail asked.

"What parents? I don't know my parents," Thalen answered picking at his food. "Don't give me that look, doll. I don't need anyone."

"Thalen, call Abigail by name," Catalina said with a sigh before taking a bite.

"Everyone needs someone," Abigail said, "Don't you think so, Catalina?"

"People just use you. No one really cares for anyone else," Alex said before the woman could answer.

Catalina sighed, "Alex, that's not true. I care about you. All of you." Alex gave her a disbelieving look. "Let's just eat our food so we can get some sleep." The woman looked back to her food.

"Do you miss your aunt, Alex?" Abigail asked as she ate around her food.

"No, I doubt she even cares that I'm gone," Alex said chewing his food.

"I know I wouldn't care if you disappeared," Thalen said as he ate his food.

"Thalen, that's not nice," Abigail chided narrowing her blue eyes at the older teen. "Alex, I'm sure she misses you."

"You are family, Alex. She may not know how to show her care," Catalina added, "I've known people who couldn't show their love for another." The woman smiled as she pushed her empty plate away. "I think that's enough for now. Let's get a hotel. Thalen, will you like to come with us or will you go wherever you sleep at?"

Thalen gave the woman a grin as she paid. "I could hang out with you for a while." Alex tried not to be disappointed; he had hoped the thief wouldn't join their group.

"Oh, before I forget. Watching you fight, I want to teach you a cool trick. It would be very useful for you," Catalina said as the group exited the restaurant.

"I don't think you have anything you can teach me," Thalen said cockily.

"She could've taken you easily," Alex said.

"No one asked you," the taller teen said. Abigail stepped between the two teen boys.

"Hey guys, we're all tired and are going to start fighting. Let's get some sleep and we can talk in the morning," Abigail said trying to placate both.

"I agree with Abigail," Catalina said before she stumbled. "That place looks good," Catalina said pointing and picking up her pace.

Alex watched as the woman got two rooms. "Okay, so this is how this is going to work. You boys are going to share a room and we are getting the other. I want you two down at the lobby no later than 8:00," Catalina said. "Good night you two." With that Catalina and Abigail left to their own room.

Alex looked at the two female halfas leaving and wished that he could have followed. "Well, I guess it's just you and me," Thalen said.

"It seems so," Alex said sliding the hotel room key unlocking the door.

"I'm getting the bed by the window," Thalen said before plopping down on said bed. "So that Abigail girl is kind of cute."

Alex may have only met Abigail, but he could tell that she was honest and he could respect that. "Don't you dare hurt her," Alex said narrowing his eyes.

"Touchy. Is she your girlfriend?" Thalen asked.

"It doesn't matter what she is to me," Alex said, "I don't want you to hurt her. I'm going to sleep." The teen laid on the bed and shut his eyes.

DP~DP~DP~

"Do you think Thalen will come with us?" Abigail asked the woman who was drying her hair with the complimentary hairdryer.

"Yup, why not? I'm sure he's curious about us," Catalina said frowning at her hair before pulling it into a short wavy ponytail. "I wish I had my straightener," she said with a pout which became a smile after a moment. "Let's go get breakfast, Abigail." The woman led the way out of the room with a skip in her step. "I really hope they have French toast. I love French toast."

Abigail followed the woman to where the breakfast was served. The pair got their food and found a table. Abigail smiled as Alex and Thalen took the seats in front of the two. "So, we're heading out today Thalen. We have another halfa to find. You can come with us or stay. I really hope you decide to come with us."

The thief looked at the motley group, his dark blue eyes locking with Abigail's. "Sure, it looks like you need an actual fighter on this team," Thalen said.

"All right, another member to team halfa," Catalina cheered.

"That's a stupid name," Thalen commented.

"Well, then you can come up with another. We should go now. We have to get to Wisconsin as soon as possible," Catalina said already cleaning up the empty plates.

"How are we getting to Wisconsin?" Alex asked, "We can't go back through the portal."

Catalina sighed, "We're going to have to take the boring way. I called Vlad last night and he bought us plane tickets." Catalina gave the three teens a smile, "Have any of you flown first class before?"

DP~DP~DP~

Sylvia Morehouse walked through the halls of her school. She went straight to class like she normally did without stopping to speak with anyone. She could see one of her brothers talking to a group of jocks. She didn't say anything to him as she walked pass him; he probably wouldn't want his friends to see him talk to his shy sister.

Sylvia couldn't be upset though because she was going to her favorite class, art. She entered the classroom and picked an easel to sit at. She opened her sketch book to look at her drawings. She flipped through the pages pausing briefly at a sketch of a young geeky-looking ghost. Sylvia turned the page again; on this page was a bulky ghost with 'DP' on its suit. She shivered at the cold eyes that matched the actual ghost's.

A loud alarm broke through the young artist's thoughts. Sylvia counted the rings; four which meant a ghost attack. The students in the class scurried to hide under their desk. Sylvia stood up conflicted. On one hand, she wanted to catch sight of this ghost, but on the other hand if this ghost was the evil ghost in her sketchbook, then it could kill her. Worry started to eat at her stomach; the evil ghost was here and was going to destroy the school. It was going to kill her brothers and her and then their parents would be all alone. The girl shut her dark teal eyes and hoped that whatever the ghost planned wasn't painful.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hi everyone, this is later than I expected to post, but Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you all had a great one. Please enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"We just can't go in there, Thalen. She's in school," Abigail said trying to grab the other teen.

"Pfft, I didn't go to school and look how smart I am," Thalen boasted putting a hand to his chest. Alex rolled his eyes, but didn't comment.

"Might as well go into the school," Catalina said dropping her altitude. "They already set an alarm. I'll find her less than a minute. And she can go back to her school work."

"Ha. That's a joke. I bet I can find her faster," Thalen said arrogantly.

Catalina grinned, "Let's race than. Whoever can find Sylvia first gets to pick the movie we watch tonight. Okay? Okay. Ready, Set, Go!" The woman sped toward the school. Thalen quickly overtook the woman as he jetted into the school. Catalina looked over her shoulder to see Abigail and Alex maintaining their position. She shrugged figuring that the race was between Thalen and herself.

She smirked to herself; she could already feel the ecto-signature of the halfa in question. She sped toward the source turning intangible to fly into the room.

DP~DP~DP~

Sylvia stared wide-eyed as the woman jetted into the room, her white boots skidding across the ground. Sylvia lowered herself lower to the ground. For all she knew this ghost was friends with the evil ghost that was attacking nearby cities. The ghost's solid red eyes glossed over the room as if she was looking for something. Sylvia's dark teal eyes met red before the ghost smiled showing off a pair of fangs.

The teen shrunk back; the ghost had to be a vampire, maybe she drank blood. White boots clinked against the tile of the room as the ghost neared Sylvia's hiding spot. The few students in the class took this time to run from the classroom leaving Sylvia with the ghost alone. "Oh good, I thought they would never leave," the ghost woman said with a chuckle. "Hi there, don't worry I'm not here to hurt you," the woman said holding out her hands in a calming manner.

Sylvia backed away slowly from the advancing ghost. It had to be a trick; the ghost had to be drawing her into a false sense of security before attacking. "I let you win on purpose," a male voice said before another ghost entered the room. Sylvia looked from one to the other coming up with various scenarios on how this could come out and none of them were good. "Look at that she's scared of you," the male ghost mocked the female ghost.

The woman rolled her red eyes. "Sylvia, ignore him. Here let me show you that we mean no harm," the woman said. A pair of white rings appeared around her waist before traveling up the length of her body. A very human looking woman stood in the ghost's place. "My name's Catalina and I'm a halfa just like you." Catalina lowered herself to the ground so she was eye to eye with the teen. "I've been waiting for a long time to meet you."

"Why me?" Sylvia asked finally finding her voice.

"Because she's a crazy stalker," the male ghost said from behind the woman.

"No," the woman said with a chuckle, "that's Vlad." She shook her head as if she got off topic, "That's Thalen by the way. He's one of the other halfas that I've gathered together. We're planning on beating Dan."

"Dan?" Sylvia asked.

"That's what Vlad and I call the ghost that has been on the news lately," Catalina explained, "Well, actually Vlad calls him Dan. I prefer to call him Danny. But that's not important. We can talk more after school lets out. We'll be at the football field. I really hope to see you there. That's a nice drawing by the way." Woman said this while pointing to Sylvia's forgotten sketchbook. "May I look at it?"

Sylvia debated whether showing the woman the sketchbook was a good idea. She eventually decided that the woman was kind enough to compliment her on it, so she scooted over to the older halfa. Catalina smiled as she picked up the sketchbook and flipped through the pages. "Poindexter, Skulker, Dan, and even Plasmius." The woman paused at the last two ghost's pictures. "You're an amazing artist. All I can draw is stick figures," the woman chuckled to herself while still focused on the drawings. "Here you go. I forgot that I was supposed to be going now."

"You're just getting old, Cat," the teen said.

"Yup, there's no denying that. And please don't call me Cat," Catalina said with a smile. The woman waved to Sylvia before changing back into her ghost form and flying through the ceiling with the other ghost in tow.

Sylvia looked up at where the pair disappeared and wondered if she should meet with them later.

DP~DP~DP

The young artist walked quickly out of the school. She shifted her backpack once before changing directions to the football field. She thought through every scenario and decided that she would talk with the older halfa. Sylvia knew that if she had wanted to the older halfa could have taken her out, but for whatever reason, she didn't. Sylvia neared the football field faster than she intended.

She looked up at the bleachers and easily spotted the woman from before. Surrounding the woman were three teens. There was a girl with dark purple hair tied back into a ponytail talking with a teenage boy with a black buzz cut. The last of the teens was another teen with black spiky hair. "Hey, I knew you would show up," Catalina's voice said excitedly as she bounded down the bleachers.

"I can't go with you," Sylvia answered after the older woman explained herself. "My family will notice that I'm missing and then they would send out a search party and then…"

"Oh great, a worry wart," the teen with the black buzzcut hair said.

"Thalen, be nice," the teen girl said.

"It's okay if you don't want to come and stay with us. You live close enough to our base that you could probably could come after school. It would be just like a club and your parents won't suspect a thing. The least I can do is help you with your abilities," Catalina said rather quickly.

Sylvia thought over this. If she only went after school, she could learn a lot from the older halfa. She also would have others like her that she could talk to. Of course the woman could be lying and this is all a trap. She looked at the teenage boy with the black spikey hair and blushed at his gaze. "Sure, I can come over for an hour or two."

Catalina cheered before pulling the teen into a quick hug. Sylvia flinched at the spontaneous display of affection. "Come on time's a wasting. Vlad will be so glad to see that we are all together."

DP~DP~DP

Catalina skipped into the living room that Vlad had set up weeks ago. She could hear the four teens filing into room. Vlad looked up briefly from his book at the two new additions to the team. "So he's you're sugar daddy?" the teen with the black buzz cut said.

Vlad narrowed his dark blue eyes, "Catalina and my relationship is purely platonic."

"Aww, he doesn't like you, Cat," the teen continued before Abigail gave him a glare.

"That's Thalen," Catalina explained and Vlad nodded. He had heard the entire story from Catalina. "And this is Sylvia. She won't be staying here because she lives close enough. And don't worry, I'm going to escort her back before it gets too late."

Vlad nodded his understanding. "I guess I should say a few words before this operation become too serious."

"Sure, take the floor, Vlad," Catalina said before sitting down on the end table next to Vlad.

Vlad looked over once at the woman knowing that an argument was sure to follow his statement. "If you choose to follow Catalina, you will more than likely die." Vlad could feel the woman's glare more than see it. The teens looked a little unsure of what to do. "You have two choices. One, you follow through with Catalina and you'll train and eventually will fight Dan. Two, you return to your homes and forget that you ever met us."

"Or three, you can remain here and I'll still train you, but you won't have to fight Dan. Whether or not you join me, I'm not going to be idle anymore," Catalina said interrupting Vlad.

Vlad wanted to point out that the tunnel system was owned by him, but decided against it. If any of these teens were captured by Dan, they could easily reveal their location. "You don't have to answer today, but I expect one soon." With that Vlad stood up and left the room.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Hi everyone, hope you all had a good day.

* * *

Catalina looked at the door that closed leaving her with the teens. She gave the teens a tense smile, "Well, that surely put a damper on things. So let's forget that movie." She chuckled nervously. "Actually Vlad just reminded me. I wanted to teach you something without any strings, of course."

"What did you want to show us?" Abigail spoke up.

"It's something very important whether or not you choose to stay or go," Catalina said, "I want to teach you how to sense ghosts. I know that you each have your ghost sense, but it is only useful if the ghost is close enough to attack you. And with Dan that's really not an option."

"Get to the point," Thalen said crossing his arms.

"We're going to play a game of hide-and-seek. I'll be in my ghost form and I want you to find me. Piece of cake. Easy as pie," Catalina said feeling excited to start the activity.

"Sounds like is going to be a short game," Thalen said with a smirk.

Catalina gave the teen an equally confident smile. She shifted into her ghost form. " So a few rules first. Don't go into Vlad's study or bedroom and don't go to the surface. Alex, count to ten, please," Catalina said before picking up the ghost gauntlets and jetting through the door intangible.

She suppressed her ghost signature as she continued to fly through the tunnels. Deciding to wait for the teens in the library, Catalina landed and opened the door. Vlad was leaning against one of the bookshelves. "How did you know I would be here?" he asked.

Catalina shrugged, "Just a guess. And look at what Abigail found at the castle." She held up the ghost gauntlets with pride. Vlad's blue eyes narrowed at the device in her hands. "Are you sure you want these? They are what caused this whole mess," Catalina said while she was glad that the team could find the gauntlets she still dislike them.

"They are also what can get us out of this mess as well," Vlad looked up at Catalina who opened her mouth to speak. "Without destroying Dan," he added before Catalina could say a word. "Think about it. If we separated Phantom from Plasmius."

"You get a hold of Plasmius. After that Phantom wouldn't be a problem at all," Catalina added understanding what the billionaire was suggesting. She frowned suddenly. "But that means you'll have to be close to the fight," she pointed out.

"I'm not helpless, Catalina. The Fentons have a lot of ghost hunting equipment that hasn't been destroyed. I could use that," Vlad said.

"I still don't like it," Catalina said with a pout. "But you're very stubborn and this is the only way to save both Plasmius and Phantom." She sighed, " I guess that means a trip to Amity is in order."

"Yes, and it'll have to be soon. The GIW is setting up a ghost shield to protect the city. It would be up and running within the week. It would be beneficial to get that equipment and destroy the portal before the shield is put up," Vlad explained. Then as if remembering something he added, "Where are those adolescents?"

Catalina chuckled at the exasperated look on the man's face. "They're looking for me right now. Trying to teach them how to sense ecto-energy even at a great distance. Very important so Danny won't catch them unaware."

"You are giving them a good challenge and are suppressing your ghost signature," Vlad stated.

"A little challenge. They have to feel like they are making progress," Catalina said with a shrug.

DP~DP~DP

Abigail walked through the halls a little lost. "So do you have an idea where she went to?" Thalen asked as he opened a door to what looked like a training dojo.

"I think I may have an idea," Abigail admitted. When the woman had changed into her ghost form, Abigail had sense the warmth of the Catalina's warm core. The teen tried to focus on that energy, but all she could sense was Thalen's warm core.

"I bet she's on the surface and was just lying to us," Thalen said.

"Can you take a couple steps away? I'm trying to find her," Abigail said.

"I'm a very distracting specimen," Thalen said while flexing his muscles. Abigail blushed a little.

"No, it's that both you and Catalina have a warm core, so all I sense is you," Abigail explained.

"I am hot stuff, aren't I?" Thalen said giving the girl some space. Abigail sighed, but continued searching for another source of warmth. The girl searched and searched until she felt a small almost unnoticeable spark.

"I think I found her," Abigail said with a smile.

"About time. It only took a half hour," Thalen said.

"Come on, follow me," the teenage girl said as she followed the small spark. She had to focus on it to prevent from losing the indicator. Abigail led the way through the winding tunnels.

She stopped at a single door. "Are you sure she's here?" Thalen asked.

"I'm positive," Abigail said with confidence, "I think we won." She opened the door to what appeared to be a library. Vlad was standing by a bookshelf turning his gaze to the open door.

"Hey, is Cat in here?" Thalen asked.

"The point of the exercise is for you to find her. I'm not here to aide you," Vlad answered before giving the pair a smirk.

Abigail searched for the small spark which was stronger now. Her blue eyes searched before a soft thud sounded behind her and Thalen. An arm wrapped around her neck and a second around Thalen pulling both into an odd group hug. "And now you two are dead," Catalina said with a chuckle.

She released the two turning them to face her. "You see why learning to sense ecto-energy is important? If I was Dan, I would have killed you. But good job. You found me in this tunnel system which isn't easy to do."

Abigail felt proud at the praise. "Yeah, good job," Thalen said which made Abigail feel even more proud that the older halfa noticed.

After another ten minutes, the library door opened again for Sylvia and Alex. "Alright, everyone. You all did great today. Sylvia, I'm going to take you home before it gets too late. Everyone else you have a big decision to make."

Abigail watched Sylvia and Catalina left the library. "I'm going to get some sleep," Thalen said with an exaggerated yawn. Alex nodded as if in agreement and both males left the library.

"You should be going to bed as well," Vlad stated.

"I will, but I wanted to answer your question first," Abigail said causing the older man to stop. "I'm staying. I left my home because I wanted to stop Dan. I'm not going to run away just because it could be hard. It's the right thing to do." The older man gave the teenage girl a sad look. "Is everything okay, Vlad?" Abigail asked.

Vlad nodded, "You just reminded me of someone else."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Grr, this chapter was giving me so much trouble. I may come back and re-edit it. :(. As always, if your character isn't the way you like them, don't be afraid to tell me. (politely please.)

* * *

Alex wasn't much of a morning person. So when the knock came at his door, he glared at the noise. "Hey, Ice Princess. It's time to wake up," Thalen's arrogant voice came from the other side of the door.

"Go away," Alex mumbled turning over and putting his pillow over his head to block out the other halfa.

"Come on sleeping beauty or I'm going to eat all of your breakfast," Thalen yelled again from the other side.

Alex groaned to himself briefly wondering if the other halfa enjoyed annoying everyone else. He got up slowly before opening the door to his room. "I'll be there in five minutes," Alex said coldly.

The taller halfa smirked, "Nice PJs." Thalen chuckled to himself before waving to Alex and retreating. Alex looked down at his sleepwear, but didn't see anything wrong with his attire. The teen closed his door. He changed into his normal outfit before heading to the kitchen.

He walked in and took note of everyone. Thalen was sitting beside Abigail. Alex narrowed his gaze at this. It was obvious that the thief liked the younger halfa and Alex felt oddly protective of the girl.

"Catalina, don't try to show off," Vlad's exasperated voice called out drawing Alex's attention to the two adults. Vlad was sitting at his usual spot at the head of the table watching the oldest halfa at the stove. Catalina held a pan in her hand giving the man a mischievous smile.

"But they want to see me flip it," Catalina said shaking the pan filled with what looked like a pancake.

"Do it, Cat," Thalen encouraged. Abigail gave the woman a nod. Catalina's gaze met Alex's as if to see if the teen agreed with the others. Alex shrugged as if he didn't care.

"Alright, here goes nothing," Catalina said putting one hand behind her back before jerking the pan in her hand. The pancake flew into the air and half of it landed in the pan the other half fell to the floor.

Thalen gave a full body laugh that was matched by Catalina's, Abigail giggled behind her hand, and even Vlad seemed amused. Alex smiled at the disappointed look on the woman's face. "Well, half of it is good," Catalina said with a shrug before turning back to the stove.

Alex took his seat across from Abigail. "Good morning," the girl greeted. Alex nodded his head in response. Catalina appeared beside the table balancing four plates in her arms. She passed out each to everyone before grabbing one for herself. Alex looked down at his plate of food. He wasn't quite used to this sort of 'family' meal time; most of the time back home he ate by himself.

"So important news everyone. Today, you are all staying here… unless you want to go home," Catalina said.

"Where are you going?" Abigail asked.

"I'm making a trip to Amity Park. Don't worry. Vlad will be here," Catalina answered.

"Amity Park? I have a friend that lives there," Abigail said excited. Thalen looked upset at the tone the girl used.

"Oh, what's their name? I could tell them you said hi," Catalina offered.

"Danny Fenton. I met him when my brother and I went to a ghost hunters convention. We decided to be penpals," Abigail explained. The girl didn't catch the fact that the woman choked on her food; Alex did and was a little concern until the woman composed herself quickly. The girl was still speaking about her friend. Alex caught the pointed looks the adults were giving each other; he couldn't read their expressions well enough to determine what they were trying to say to each other.

"I have bad news," Catalina began slowly, "…Vlad?"

The man narrowed his eyes at the woman, "Daniel Fenton is dead." The billionaire said the sentence without emotion, but Alex could tell that the man was upset with the fact. The pain was clear behind his dark blue eyes.

"How?" Abigail asked her blue eyes wide.

"That's a long story," Catalina said. "You see Danny's family and friends died in a terrible accident. Danny was a halfa like you are." The oldest halfa looked to Vlad.

"He came to live with me. I looked after him for a month before he came to me," Vlad stopped.

"Danny wanted to rid himself of his ghost half because he felt guilty that he couldn't save them," Catalina picked up where the man left off. Alex could understand Danny's pain, but couldn't fathom separating his human self from his ghost self. "Long story made short, Danny Phantom merged with Vlad Plasmius making Dan. Dan killed Danny Fenton."

The breakfast table became absolutely quiet. Alex looked at the two adults realizing that Dan was their fault. "How did you two make it out?" Abigail asked looking at the two adults.

"I teleported Vlad and myself out of there after a brief fight with Dan," Catalina said all the enthusiasm from before lost.

"You can teleport?" Thalen said impressed leaning over his food. Abigail smacked the thief on the forearm giving him a glare. Thalen as if intimidated by the smaller girl backed off.

"Yea, I can teleport. It's actually easy when you know what to do. But it's dangerous if you don't prepare yourself," Catalina answered in a tone that suggested that she didn't want any more questions. "I need to head out now before it gets too late." The woman stood up from the table before dropping her plate into the sink and leaving the kitchen.

Alex watched the woman leave wondering what she meant by teleportation being dangerous. "So what other tricks does she know?" Thalen asked the question directed to Vlad.

The man gave the teen a knowing smile, "You have to ask her that yourself. I'll be in the lab working. You can entertain yourself with whatever you find. Lunch will be at 12:30." With that Vlad left the table, washed his dish and left the kitchen.

The three teens looked at each other. "Maybe we should work on sensing ecto-energy like we did last night," Abigail suggested.

"Sure that sounds like a great idea," Thalen said. Alex shrugged, but otherwise agreed with the other two teen halfas.

DP~DP~DP

Leon phased through the door to the abandoned building. He ignored the blaring sign reading "Fenton Works". At one time, Leon would have avoided this place because of the ghost hunters that lived here; but now it was the perfect place to stay seeing that no other living creature wanted to come near the place. His ocean blue eyes looked toward the kitchen before he walked over there. He was pleased to see that no one else decided to take residence in the building. Leon ran his hand through his chestnut brown hair before heading toward the living room.

His enhanced hearing caught the sound of the front door opening. Leon glared in the direction as he heard light footsteps. A woman with black hair and white bangs came into view. "What are you doing here?" Leon asked harshly.

The woman smiled, "I could ask you the same question, but it doesn't matter I'll be out of your hair in a couple of minutes." She walked passed the teen. "The name's Catalina by the way. It was very nice to meet you," the woman stated as she walked away.

Leon followed after the woman not liking the fact she was imposing on his place. He watched as the woman walked to the lab in the building. Leon hurried faster to cut her off; the portal was his and he wasn't willing to share. He switched to his ghost form. Leon's brown hair changed to a vibrant blue and his blue eyes became an emerald green.

The woman if she noticed the teen following didn't mention it as she entered the lab. Catalina looked around before putting objects into the large duffle bag hanging off her shoulder. Leon watched as she put what looked like a belt into the bag which was quickly followed by a couple of gun looking devices and a thermos.

She seemed pleased with herself as she walked to the active ghost portal. "What are you doing?" Leon asked fists clenched.

The woman's brown eyes turned to meet his not at all surprised with seeing a ghost floating in front of her. "I'm destroying it, of course. You'll be glad that I did," she said with a smile before turning back to the portal.

Leon narrowed his eyes at the woman. "I want you to leave," Leon said stomping to the woman and grabbing her arm stopping her actions.

"I still have another hand," the woman said as if it was a joke waving it. Leon tightened his grasp on the woman's wrist. The woman narrowed her eyes at the taller halfa. "I really need to destroy this portal could you let me go?" she asked.

"No," Leon said bluntly before pulling the woman away from the portal.

"You know this is very rude," the woman said before Leon lost his grip on her wrist. Leon turned sharply to face the woman. He didn't take kindly to people who spoke negatively about him. He swung his right fist missing the woman as she darted back. Her eyes widened as the attack barely missed her.

She gave him a smirk before a bright pair of white rings traveled over her body. In the woman stead was a blue almost vampiric ghost. The ghost's fanged smile didn't break as a second ghost an exact duplicate to the first floated to the portal and started to push buttons on the portal.

Leon jetted to the duplicate his fists full of ecto-energy just to be stopped by a shimmering blue ecto-shield. Small cracks formed along the surface which caused the ghost woman's red eyes to widen. The shield was dropped as Leon swung his other fist just for the ghost woman to dodge the blow. Leon swung both fists trying to hit the woman who remained out of touch. Even with the short blasts of ecto-energy with each punch, the woman danced and weaved out of the way.

"Well, this has been very fun, ghosty. But I have to go. You understand, ghost shield being put up and all that," the woman said with a grin. Leon punched again; this time the blow was really close to the woman's ribs considering he felt the fabric of her dress across his knuckles. Leon smirked at his small improvement until he noticed the duplicate beside the woman point above his head. The teen looked up to see another shimmering shield before it shattered and ecto-energy shards fell around him.

They struck the ground before blue electricity sparked between them making an effective barrier. Leon looked at the sparks jump from shard to shard. "Pretty neat trick if I do so myself," the woman said with a grin as her duplicate merged with her. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. The electicity will die down after I leave, Ta," the woman said with a short wave before flying out of the lab leaving the teen halfa alone.

DP~DP~DP

Catalina shifted back to her human form as quickly as she could. She put a hand to her chest where her core was. She frowned at the burning sensation that always occurred briefly after using her more advance abilities. "You shouldn't have duplicated, Cat," she reprimanded herself. "You could have put the ghost kid in the thermos and then destroyed the portal. Oh wait what happened to that one kid that was in the living room? He could be hurt," the woman debated whether to turn around and head back to Fenton Works, but decided against it. During her brief encounter with the blue-haired ghost, she hadn't heard a heartbeat and therefore could assume that the teenage boy left the building.

She shrugged to herself. "Besides, I need to make sure that the base is still intact." With that the woman prepared to head back to Wisconsin.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: *hides* I'm sorry, I took way too long with this chapter. This week had been way too busy. Yeah, I know that's an excuse. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter. And a thank you to InfernalFox for following this fic.

* * *

Thalen got bored of the game of hide-and-seek with the other halfas. Abigail suggested that they all took a break and the thief agreed. That's what led him to wait by the elevator and wait till Catalina came back. He had every intention to chase her down and have her teach him how to teleport. It was on his mind since she mentioned it during breakfast.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. "Cat, I wanted you to show me how to teleport," the teen said quickly without greeting the woman. "Wow, you look like something the cat dragged in," Thalen commented looking at the ruffled and tired Catalina.

"That's nice, Thalen. It's nice to see you, too," the woman said distractedly. She continued down the hall head bent down.

"Hey, so you're going to teach me how to teleport?" Thalen asked hurrying to catch up with the woman. Catalina yawned but didn't answer. Thalen was about to ask the woman again when he caught sight of Vlad walking quickly toward the pair. The older man didn't look amused.

"Oh hi Vlad," the woman said perking up a little. "I got what you needed. I'll just be going to my room then," she said as she gave the bag hanging on her shoulder to Vlad. She turned quickly as if to retreat to said room.

"It's 12:30, Catalina," the older man said catching her arm. Thalen was going to ask what the time had to do with anything.

"Lunch time," Catalina said distractedly. "I'm not hungry. I need to sleep for a while." Vlad gave the woman a stern look. She sighed but nodded. The older man shifted his hold so he had his arm linked with hers before leading the trio to the kitchen.

"So about teleporting," Thalen asked following the two adults reminding the oldest halfa.

"Have you come up with an answer for our question?" Vlad responded. Thalen felt the two pair of eyes on him.

"Well, yeah. I want to stay and train. Better than living on the streets," Thalen said with a shrug.

"How about Dan?" Catalina asked brown eyes focused on the younger halfa.

"Can't handle him yourself, Kitty Cat?" Thalen said arrogantly putting his hands on his hips. The woman's eyes narrowed and Thalen thought they flashed an angry red. "Don't worry. I got your back. This will be a piece of cake," the halfa bragged.

Vlad chuckled darkly, "Be careful, Thalen. Life has a way of making you eat your words."

"Soo, about teleporting?" Thalen asked sensing that Catalina was becoming more lucid.

The woman frowned which was only matched by Vlad's. "Not yet. I'll do it, but I want to teach you some other things first," she answered.

"After lunch," Vlad added. Thalen thought he heard the woman repeat that she wasn't hungry.

DP~DP~DP

Sylvia went through her day distracted. She kept thinking back to the previous evening. Not only were there others like her, but they wanted her; they needed her. Catalina was willing to train her how to use her abilities. She didn't know if she wanted to face whatever it was that had Vlad become so serious. Then again the pair offered to train her without requiring the teen to fight. Sylvia decided and not a moment too soon. The dismissal bell rung and Sylvia hurried to her locker.

After putting away her things, Sylvia left the school. Once she was far enough from the school, she changed into her ghost half. Her normal golden brown ponytail became a short pale blue braid and her normal teal eyes became hot pink.

The teen artist took to the sky flying as quickly as she could. She pulled her dark navy jean jacket closer over her gray t-shirt. She landed near the abandoned shed her short maroon boots kicking up dust. Sylvia entered the shed slowly feeling the urge to run back to her home.

Gathering her courage, Sylvia entered the elevator and went underground. She stepped into the hallway hesitantly. She didn't see anyone. "Boo," Catalina said becoming visible beside the teen. Sylvia jumped away in surprised. "I'm sorry, that wasn't really funny," the older halfa said her pure red eyes sympathetic.

Sylvia briefly wondered if she had made a wise choice. "Everyone is waiting in the training hall. Follow me," the woman said as she walked down the hallway. Sylvia listened politely as the woman talked about the underground system and how it was built. "Well, here we are," the woman said suddenly opening the door and walking in.

The teen looked around the room. She didn't know the last time she saw so many ghosts. A girl ghost with dark , nearly black, purple hair; a teenage boy with gray hair and dark purple eyes; and a ghost with a white buzz cut. Sylvia committed the image to memory so she could sketch the other halfas later.

"Seems like everyone is here," Vlad stated drawing all the halfas attention. Catalina skipped to his side to stand beside the man.

"Uh, Mr. Masters, I have something to say," Sylvia said knowing that if she waited she'll change her mind. "I decided that I want to train with you two, but I can't stay here because I still have my family."

"That's not a problem. I'll make sure to pick you up from school and then we can spend the evening here," Catalina answered. "Okay now that's done. I want to move onto something new," Catalina said.

"Teleportation," Thalen said. Abigail gave Thalen an unamused look and the teen backed down a little.

"No, we're going to get you comfortable with your core. Once you become comfortable with it, you'll became to manipulate the energy you release," Catalina answered. She held her hand palm up in front of her. A small blue fire formed in her palm cackling. "If you don't become comfortable with your energy, it will hurt you." The woman looked to Vlad as if expecting the man to add something.

"Ugh, how is this helpful? A fire is close enough to a normal ecto-blast," Thalen said bored.

"Thalen, be polite," Abigail whispered to the taller teen. Alex just gave the thief a glare. Catalina cleared her throat drawing attention back to the two adults. Sylvia looked back with interest. The fire in the woman's hand was gone and instead blue sparks jumped from her skin.

"Okay, now that's cool. How do we do that?" Thalen asked.

"We meditate," Catalina answered before getting to the ground putting her legs to one side of her body. Thalen grumbled, but also sat on the hard ground. Sylvia sat similarly to Catalina not wanting to sit cross-legged in her jean skirt. Although she had black leggings underneath, she didn't want to expose herself. Alex sat beside her. "Now, I need all of you to be quiet. I want you to turn your attention to your energy. Feel it buzz and congregate at your core. It should feel either warm or cold." After this sentence, Catalina became quiet.

Sylvia tried to concentrate like the oldest halfa suggested. She closed her pink eyes and feel the buzz of ecto-plasm. The young artist could feel a deep cold settling in the center of her chest. It was so cold it nearly burned. "Okay, everyone that's enough," Catalina said breaking Sylvia's concentration causing her to lose the cold sensation.

"I could keep going," Thalen bragged.

"I can too," Abigail added as well. Sylvia had to agree with the two halfas; she wasn't tired at all.

"I know, but before it gets too late, I wanted to play a game. It's a good team bonding experience," Catalina said with a grin.

"More hide-and-seek?" Thalen asked, "We already did that."

"No, even better Clue," Catalina said excited.

"We're not playing Clue," Vlad interrupted to the surprise of Sylvia. "You always cheat," the man said.

"No I don't. I'm just very observant," Catalina said, "Fine, we'll play a different game…Not Monopoly though."

"How about Twister," Thalen suggested. Sylvia blushed at the idea of getting so close to the other halfas.

"Let's not. I don't want to be anywhere near you," Alex said unamused.

"How about Life?" Abigail suggested. All six looked at each other. No one seemed to think of any objections.

Moments later all six were sitting around the kitchen table looking down at the board. Sylvia played the game feeling a little amused as the game progress.

"Vlad, can you hand me one of the little blue guys," Catalina asked holding out her arm to have the man drop said piece into her hand.

"Aww, you and Vlad finally decided to tie the knot," Thalen teased.

"Once again, Vlad and I aren't together," Catalina said at the same time Vlad stated that their relationship was platonic.

"Right," Thalen said rolling his eyes. "So, Alex did you decide what you want to do."

"I'm going to stay here and train. I'm not going to fight Dan," Alex responded. "I don't want to go home."

"Oh I'm sure that your life is just plain horrible," Thalen said sarcastically.

"You know nothing of my life," Alex said coldly. "Who are you to judge."

"Well, it's better than mine. I lived on the streets, no parents, no friends, no family. I'm done here," Thalen exploded out of no where. He pushed away from the table stomping away. Sylvia watched as Abigail followed after the teen. With a pointed look from Catalina, Vlad followed the two teens.

Sylvia looked concerned to Alex who had his fist shaking. She didn't know what to say. "Alex," Catalina said softly thankfully taking charge. She put her hand near his, but didn't touch them. The teen looked at the older woman. "Everyone experiences pain and no one can compare their pain to another," she said. Sylvia nodded her agreement.

"I don't have parents either. How can he assume that my life is perfect," Alex said pulling away from the two.

"What happened to them?" Sylvia asked thinking of her own parents. She wouldn't know what she would do if she didn't' have them.

"They died in a car crash. A drunk driver," Alex answered looking down at his hands.

"I'm so sorry," Sylvia said putting a comforting hand on his. She didn't know what else to say to the teenage boy. Her life was fairly normal with three older brothers and both parents.

"A loan shark," Catalina said drawing both halfas' attention. "My father owed a lot of money. They went out one night leaving me at my babysitter's house and never came back." Alex looked at the woman who gave him a small smile. "But at least you have your aunt."

"Where did you go?" Alex asked distracted from his own tale for the moment.

"The system, but that's not important. I overcame that. What's important is that you know that your aunt cares about you. If she didn't she wouldn't have taken you in," Catalina said.

"Catalina is right. And you have all of us," Sylvia said trying to comfort the teen. Alex nodded and gave a minimal smile which made Sylvia's stomach become filled with butterflies.

DP~DP~DP

Abigail hurried after Thalen who didn't look back. He stomped away; the tiles on the ground became warm. She called out his name putting her hand on his shoulder stopping him. "Thalen, I'm sorry," Abigail said.

"Why? You didn't do anything," Thalen said still clearly angry. He became quiet. "Don't worry. I don't remember my family. The earliest memory I have is being strapped down on a lab table."

Abigail shook her head not believing that people could be so cruel. She didn't know what to say. She never experienced anything like that. "I never told you how I became a halfa," Vlad said as a greeting. "My idiotic friend miscalculated on our project and I became a halfa. I was stuck dying in a hospital for years as he married the love of my life," the man snarled. Abigail took a step closer to Thalen and away from Vlad. She never saw the man this angry. "I was poked and prodded for years."

"It's not very fun," Thalen said crossing his arms.

Abigail could tell that both were going to a dark place in their minds. "But you became a billionaire, Vlad. And Thalen those people back in Hong Kong look up to you and respect," she said. "You both might have had bad pasts, but your life isn't so bad now. And it's like that saying goes, the sun will come out tomorrow."

"At least you don't sing it," Vlad said amused. Thalen also grinned know who Vlad was speaking of. Abigail giggled thinking about Catalina singing with the famous musical number.

"Come on let's finish our game," Abigail suggested. The trio walked back to the room to see the other three halfas also ready to play.

"I'm …sor…. Alex. Just forget what I said," Thalen said, attempting to apologize.

"I forgive you," Alex responded.

"Great, now let's continue. I'm sure I'm going to win," Catalina said cheerfully.

"I don't think you can win in the game of life," Vlad noted.

"Shh, we don't need any more negativity."


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Hello everyone, sorry nothing much happens in this chapter. But next chapter will be a start of a short arc suggested by Diablo's Raven.

* * *

Thalen hurried to the training hall were Catalina told him to meet her after Sylvia left to her home. He opened the door slowly looking around briefly. He felt the woman's ghost signature without seeing her nearby. Pinpointing her location, he gave a confident grin, "I found you."

The woman's disembodied laugh echoed in the hall before she appeared where Thalen was looking at. "Good job. But that's not why I called you. I was going to teach yo-"

"Teleportation," Thalen interrupted.

"Not quite. I'm not feeling up to showing off my super cool tricks yet. I did want to show you something else. You're pretty good at solidifying your ecto-energy."

"You bet I am," Thalen said raising his head.

"Well, maybe I should explain things this way. Whenever you are in your ghost form, your core is constantly creating ecto-energy and when you're not actively using it, it leaks into the environment around you," Catalina explained starting to pace back and forth in front of the teen.

"Okay, makes sense I guess," Thalen said keeping his eye on her.

"And ecto-energy likes to congregate with itself. So all it needs is a little encouragement to form shapes. Uh, just watch," the woman said standing beside Thalen. She held up one of her blue hands and a shimmering blue rectangle formed on the opposite wall. Another and another rectangle formed until a dome formed around one of the training dummies. "Now imagine if you could form a bunch of your ecto-knives without having to be near them," the woman said.

"I could see how this could be useful," Thalen admitted. The woman smirked before closing her hand causing all the shields to disappear. "How do you do that?"

"A lot of focus. Remember what we did this afternoon and our hide-and-seek game? You know how your core feels like and you should be able to recognize your own energy in this room," Catalina said. "I'm sure you can figure it out from there. Oh, I almost forgot. Vlad wanted to talk to me. Uh, have fun and try not to overexert yourself. And don't go to bed too late-"

"Yes, mom," Thalen said annoyed at the advice.

Catalina smirked, "I think I'm more like the crazy aunt than mom. Good night, Thalen."

DP~DP~DP

Vlad looked up from the ghost gauntlets to see Catalina walk in. "Oh no, I know that look. What's wrong?" Catalina said pulling herself onto one of the lab tables and sitting on it.

"Besides the fact that you're reckless with your abilities?" Vlad said pointing toward one of the monitors in the lab. He knew what was on the screen; he had watched the fight between the woman and the strange ghost. He turned his dark blue gaze to Catalina who actually looked sheepish.

"I wanted to get out of there as soon as I could. Besides, I destroyed the portal and that's the most important bit," Catalina said.

"The ghost nearly destroyed your ecto-shield," Vlad pointed out rewinding the video to show when the ghost punched the woman's shield. "And he almost hit you. With that power-"

"Wow, you actually sound worried. Vlad, I won. Pft, if I wanted to I could have destroyed him," Catalina said inspecting the microscope that was sitting beside her.

"Then why didn't you?" Vlad asked knowing he would have done so in the woman's place. He briefly wished that the woman's and his situation was switched; that he was the one with his ghost half and Catalina lacking it.

The woman was silent which was odd, "I don't know. It's called mercy, Vlad."

"And he would show you none," Vlad said frustrated with the naivety of the woman. Both became quiet realizing that the conversation wasn't about the strange blue-haired ghost anymore and shifted to their enemy.

"So the ghost gauntlets," Catalina broke the silence.

"I can repair them, but I don't have the materials to do so. I'll need to buy them," Vlad explained knowing that he would have to leave the safety of the underground tunnel system. "So I'll be leaving you with the kids."

"Nope," Catalina said popping the 'p'. "We'll all come with you. You can't get away that easily," she said with a smile.

"Of course," Vlad said turning back to the ghost gauntlets.

DP~DP~DP

Abigail sat with perfect posture; Thalen was sinking in the plush couch beside her. Alex was on the love seat with Sylvia. "So what are we doing now?" Thalen asked the two adults in front of the teens.

"We have some important matters to discuss," Vlad answered. Catalina nodded beside him with a smile. "I believe we told you about the ghost gauntlets," Vlad started. The teens nodded that they did hear about the gauntlets.

"You're not planning on separating us from our ghost halves are you?" Alex asked suspicious.

"No, I think we learned our lesson the first time," Catalina said.

"We're planning on using the gauntlets to separate Danny Phantom from Plasmius. We hope that this would help us to weaken Dan," Vlad said before being interrupted.

"It'll also even the odds greatly. With Plasmius and Vlad back together, we'll have the upper hand," Catalina said excitedly. Abigail could tell that the woman was thinking about something.

"But that means you'll have to be really close to the fight," Sylvia said looking at Vlad. Abigail hadn't thought of that and she was concern for the man. Vlad narrowed his eyes at the teens as if he was insulted by their insinuation that he was helpless.

"Don't worry about Vlad. I'll be keeping an eye on him," Catalina said before adding, "Not a word Thalen." The thief chuckled at something unsaid.

"However, there is a good possibility that this plan will not work," Vlad stated getting the group back on track. "In that case, you have to destroy Dan," Vlad said calmly. Catalina clenched her fists beside him, but remained smiling.

"Why don't we contain Dan in the Fenton Thermos?" Abigail asked; she heard about the device from Danny once.

"The thermos would be a temporary solution," Vlad answered, "It won't hold Dan forever."

"And Vlad will still be a boring human if we trap Dan,"Thalen said callously.

"Thalen," Abigail admonished the teen. Like the times before the former thief dropped the subject. Abigail knew that the other teen could be nice, but she wished that he would show some empathy to the two adults.

"Thank you, Abigail. As I was saying whether or not you are planning to fight Dan, it is important for you to know how to destroy a ghost."


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Hi everyone. I hope you are all doing well. Uh, slight warning; In case you haven't noticed the rating for this story is T mostly due to violence, so minor warning there. I really hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Alex looked at the tall sky scrapers which contrasted greatly from the small Texas town he lived in. He could see people's second glances at the small group. He was positive that the people on the streets were curious how the small group of six were related.

He wished that he could have stayed in the underground tunnels, but Catalina insisted on the four teens follow the pair to Philadelphia for Vlad's business meeting. Currently the woman was walking step with step with the older man, Alex could tell she was a little jumpy.

"How much longer are we walking?" Thalen asked from behind.

Vlad turned to look over his shoulder, "Just a couple more blocks. You five will have to entertain yourselves while I'm in there. It shouldn't take more than an hour."

"What can we do here?" Sylvia asked from Alex's left; it was Saturday and the artist decided to go with the team of halfas.

"I thought I saw a movie theater a block ago," Abigail answered from beside Thalen.

The group walked until Vlad stopped at a tall shiny skyscraper. "I'll be back in an hour. Try not to get in trouble," Vlad said taking a step toward which was matched by Catalina. "Catalina, you're not coming with me."

The woman pouted, "But what if there are killers up there?"

Vlad gave the woman an unamused look, "I'm sure I can handle it." The woman sighed, but conceded taking a step back and letting the man enter alone.

"So, I'm going to take a walk. Just meet up with me in an hour back here, "Catalina said with a wave before walking away skip in her step. Alex watched her walk away surprised that the woman would leave them alone.

"Hey Abigail, want to go to the theater? I'm sure something good is playing," Thalen suggested. The girl answered that it sounded fun and the pair left leaving Sylvia and Alex behind.

"Uh, What do you want to do, Alex?" Sylvia said speaking up quietly. Alex shrugged not really caring what the two did to pass the time. "I saw an art museum ahead. I was thinking about looking at it."

Alex looked at the girl who was an inch taller than him realizing that the timid girl was inviting to go with her. "Sure," he responded liking how the girl was seemingly honest and didn't have an alternative motive. "Lead the way." The girl gave him a smile and Alex could feel his stomach do a flip.

DP~DP~DP

Catalina sat at the edge of the skyscraper letting her legs swing lazily. She had her eyes shut as she focused on her enhanced hearing. She was focusing on Vlad's heartbeat, just in case. She smiled to herself as she listened to the oddly comforting sound.

Red steam passed her lips before something cold clamped itself around her mouth making the woman jump in surprise. "Okay, luv. I really prefer it if you don't scream," a male voice with an English accent said smoothly. The voice would have been charming if the owner wasn't holding her captive.

Catalina snarled before sinking her fangs into the hand that was across her face. The ghost yelped before releasing the female halfa. She narrowed her red eyes; the ghost in front of her must have been very weak to have snuck up on her. The ghost was dressed sharply in a nice suit. Catalina smirked at the white-haired ghost. "You should be going. I'm not in the mood to play, ghosty." She was confident that the ghost in front of her would be an easy target.

"The name's Somber," the ghost said with a bow tipping the hat on his head. "And you don't have to play. You just have to watch."

Catalina tipped her head confused, "Wha-" She clamped her hands on her head as a splitting headache drove her to her knees.

"It's nothing personal, luv. I'm sure you heard about that Phantom kid. I don't want to be his next victim," the ghost said leaning beside the woman to whisper in her ear as the woman's vision became white.

…..

 _Catalina stood looking at both halfas in front of her. She looked to the younger and tried to give him a smile. The teen lowered his crystal blue eyes which became obscured with his black locks. "Are you sure you need me to go?" she asked the older turning to him, really hoping that he answered no._

 _"_ _It's imperative that you speak to Skulker," Vlad said arms crossed. Catalina sighed, but resigned herself to doing what the older halfa said._

 _"_ _Hey, don't burn down the mansion while I'm gone. And when I get back, I have a new recipe that you both will try and love," Catalina said with a smile already picturing her return and the great evening she planned for both halfas._

 _"_ _You're only delaying us from trying that recipe," Vlad stated. Catalina chuckled, but left with a wave._

 _The female halfa flew through the green space of the Ghost Zone when she realized that she had forgotten the strange device that Vlad wanted to give Skulker. Catalina bumped the heel of her hand against her head, "Good job, Cat. You had one job and you forgot it."_

 _The female halfa flew at top speed back to Vlad's portal. "Hey funny story, Vla-" the woman stopped her explanation at the loud scream that echoed through the lab. Her red eyes widen as she saw Danny Phantom floating in the air emitting so much ecto-energy Catalina could feel it like pressure in the air._

 _"_ _Catalina," Vlad's shocked voice called her name. The female halfa looked at the man. He looked weak and he was shaking; something was very wrong, she couldn't sense Plasmius. "The Gauntlets," the billionaire said pointing to a pair of metal gloves that were in the corner of the room next to Danny Fenton. Catalina did a double take looking from the human side of Danny and the ghost that stopped screaming to lock its red eyes with Catalina's._

 _"_ _Danny," she called out cautiously before being slammed backwards with a bright green ecto-blast. She put up a shield as another blast hit her shield. "Very funny, Danny. Come on, what's wrong?" she asked the floating ghost who refused to speak to her, but chose to shoot another blast. The green blast of energy shredded through the blue ecto-shield striking the woman and sending her skidding along the floor._

 _Catalina floated up back to her feet only to be met with a fist filled with ecto-plasm. She tried to shake off the stars that filled her vision when another green ecto-blast struck her in the stomach. She tumbled along the ground hitting a table knocking the equipment off of it._

 _She met Vlad's eyes for a moment as he was leading Danny Fenton out of the lab. She never seen the man scared before. Catalina looked back to the hovering phantom. The ghost boy picked up the ghost gauntlets and gave the female halfa a feral grin. Catalina could feel fear beginning to chill her ectoplasm. "Daniel," Vlad's voice scolded as the human teenager with a hero complex tried to throw a punch at his human half._

 _Catalina got to her feet as the ghost grabbed the teen's arm before ripping it from his shoulder. The woman felt sick to her stomach and anger burned through her veins. Before the ghost could strike again, Catalina jumped on its shoulders sinking her fangs into its throat._

 _Phantom sparked with electricity causing Catalina to drop away from the ghost as she became human involuntarily. Phantom turned his attention to Danny. Clawlike fingers swiped at the teen's eyes. Catalina watched helplessly as the ghost attacked the teen. Gathering as much energy as she could she created an ecto-blast and shot it at the ghost. Distracting the ghost, Catalina created a duplicate to draw attention away from the trio._

 _Vlad had gotten to the teen and was carrying him. Catalina flew to him and wrapped both in her arms. She grit her teeth as she attempted to teleport the three of them. She shut her eyes as she felt herself burning as if she were a flame._

 _Opening her eyes, she found herself beside Vlad in the small forest near his mansion. She could feel her core stuttering and she coughed up ecto-plasm. But she couldn't concern herself on whatever it was that was causing her core to ache, she looked to where Vlad laid down Danny. "Vlad," she called out her voice cracking. She could feel tears creating streams down her cheeks._

 _The older man looked at her with sad dark blue eyes and slowly shook his head._

…..

Catalina panted on her hands and knees looking at the roof of the skyscraper as her tears hit it. The emotions from the memory raw and ten times as potent. Fear, helplessness, desperation, pain, guilt. They swarmed in her head causing her stomach to become sick. She could feel herself shaking uncontrollably. "Well, luv. That was pretty enjoyable if I do say so myself. It will do nicely," the strange ghost from before said a look of pleasure on his face. "I best be off then. Good day." Catalina knelt there unable to move feeling as though the ghost had taken all her energy.

DP~DP~DP

Robin Peary walked with his sister through the streets. She had insisted that she had to see the new Disney movie and Robin was more than happy to take her. "That was a good movie, wasn't it?" the younger girl said with a smile.

"I did like it. Did you want to get some ice cream?" Robin asked. The younger girl nodded excitedly. Cool mist left his mouth, but the younger girl didn't notice. Robin's hazel eyes searched the sky for the ghost that set off his ghost sense.

It was brief but Robin caught sight of a suit-wearing ghost fly through the skyline. "Naomi, we're going to have to have the ice cream another time." The girl complained, but Robin didn't listen. Dropping off his sister at their apartment where his parents were, Robin started to hunt after the ghost that he sensed earlier. He ran down an alley and turned into his ghost persona. He narrowed his now silvery blue eyes as he took off to the sky.

DP~DP~DP

"It was a shame that the theater didn't have anything we wanted to watch," Abigail said to Thalen.

"I guess. But that arcade was pretty fun. I'm sure my high scores will be there for years," the teen said, "You weren't so bad yourself."

"Oh thank you," Abigail said with a slight blush. "Look a park. Do you want to go there?" the girl asked pointing to said park which was pretty empty.

"Sounds good to me," Thalen said, "Besides, it's going to take forever for Vlad to finish." The teenage girl smiled brightly as she led the way to the park.

The two sat at a park bench peacefully talking. Abigail listened to the other teen as he talked about the experiments that were once performed on him. She didn't know what to say to the boy, but he seemed comforted by having someone listen to him. The pair stopped speaking when their ghost sense went off.

They turned simultaneously to the cause of the disturbance. A ghost with white hair in a suit floated off the ground.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Hi everyone, Hope you all had a good day.

* * *

Thalen glared at the ghost waiting for any sign of an attack. The suited ghost gave the pair of halfas a grin. "I suppose I should introduce myself; it is only proper, of course," the ghost said giving the pair a curt bow. "Good afternoon, my name is Somber. It's been a pleasure."

"The pleasure is mine," Thalen said mockingly before turning to his ghost form and swinging an ecto-energy filled fist.

"Thalen," Abigail called shocked as the former thief's fist made contact with Somber. The ghost fell back at the force of the blow as Thalen turned to face Abigail.

"What?" the teen asked.

"You can't randomly attack ghosts. He could just want to meet us," Abigail said her voice shocked. The teenage girl walked to the fallen ghost. "I'm so sorry. My friend gets a little protective," the girl said reaching down to help the ghost up. Thalen narrowed his eyes not trusting the ghost; there was something in the look that he gave Abigail that the older teen didn't trust. Thalen pushed the smaller girl away to reach out instead.

The ghost dipped his white-haired head as if to thank the teen. Thalen pulled the ghost to his feet. "Thank you, Miss.."

"Abigail," the girl said with a smile.

"We should be going now. We have some very important things to do," Thalen said pulled Abigail away from the ghost.

"Of course, I would hate to make you late," Somber said his tone sarcastic. Thalen turned angrily intending to show the ghost who he was messing with.

Thalen gasped as he was struck by a blinding headache that drove him to one knee. "What's wrong, Thalen?" Abigail said concerned by his side.

The teen was going to accuse the ghost, but his voice was lost as his vision turned white.

….

 _Thalen blinked up at the blinding fluorescent lights. He tugged at the bounds that tied him to the lab table. He didn't have much strength due to the 'tests' the scientists had done the day before. The teen strained his sore muscles trying to tear himself away from the table._

 _The door to the pure white room slid open with a hiss of compressed air. Thalen looked fearfully at who walked through the door, unsure on what new test that the scientist had in store for him. As always, the pair of scientists wore white hazmat suits that made it impossible for Thalen to tell who they were._

 _"_ _Leave me alone," the teen shouted pulling away from the pair as they neared his table. They said nothing as always. The shorter one who had more of a feminine figure held up a syringe full of a glowing green liquid. Thalen struggled to get away from the scientist as the other held him down._

 _The teen looked away from the injection not wanting to see the needle break his skin. He tried to control his breathing that started to accelerate in panic. There was a small pinch and then the feeling of something cold run down his arm._

 _Thalen braced himself for something to happen. Nothing happened and it was clear that the scientists were upset at the result. Without saying anything to the teen, they stomped out of the room turning out the lights and leaving the teen in complete darkness._

 _The teen calmed his raging nerves. The chill that begun at the injection sight became a burning sensation as if his blood became lava. Thalen shouted at the brain numbing pain that ran through his body. Muscles and sinew was on fire. The teen involuntarily arched his back._

DP~DP~DP

"Thalen, Thalen," Abigail shouted at the shaking halfa. She had both hands on his shoulders before turning her glare to Somber who was chuckling. "Whatever you are doing you're going to stop it right now," she said angrily to the ghost turning into her ghost form.

Somber gave a mock thinking face before grinning at the girl, "I don't think I will. There's a feast with this one." The ghost licked his lips before a bright green ecto-blast hit him from behind.

Abigail watched as another ghost landed, white boots crushing the grass. The newcomer had snow white hair and silver blue eyes. Somber regained his senses to look at the two teenagers. "It seems I overstayed my welcome," the ghost said before flying off at lightning speed.

"Somber is a real coward," the ghost said glaring where the parasitical ghost disappeared.

"Would Thalen be okay?" Abigail asked returning her attention to her friend who was staring blankly ahead.

" Somber feeds off negative emotions that come from memories, so your friend is just feeling drained at the moment," the ghost said looking at the shaking halfa. A pair of white rings turned Thalen back to human. "He's half ghost?" the ghost asked his blue eyes widened.

"We both are," Abigail said turning to her human half as well.

The ghost shook his head and gave the pair a disbelieving look. Abigail wondered if the ghost would be a threat as well. "I guess we have a lot in common," the ghost said before turning human as well. Abigail watched as the ghost shifted into a young man with chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes. "The name's Robin. Robin Peary. "

"I'm Abigail and this is Thalen," Abigail said.

"Do you have a place to rest?" Robin asked. "Thalen is going to have to sit down for a little while.

"We're supposed to meet up with the rest of our group in a couple of minutes by the DALV building," Abigail said trusting the older halfa.

"Is the rest of your group halfas as well?" Robin asked.

"Yes, we're all training and learning how to use our abilities," Abigail answered trying to pull Thalen to his feet. Robin lent his help pulling the thief's arm around his shoulders so the younger halfa was leaning on him.

"I don't need any help," Thalen slurred as his angrily pulled his arm away from the taller halfa.

"You're going to fall flat on your face," Robin said bluntly, but didn't try to help the other halfa again.

"Oh you think so," Thalen said as if accepting the challenge. Abigail sighed, but smiled to herself at Thalen's insistence. The trio left the park without much trouble and headed to the building where Vlad and the others would be waiting.

DP~DP~DP

Vlad looked at his watch irritated. He could be patient, but he had at least expected Catalina to be punctual. Truth be told, he expected the woman to have followed him into his meeting. Vlad pulled the briefcase in his hand closer. Inside was material he would need to repair the ghost gauntlets.

The older man watched as Alex and Sylvia ran toward him. "Sorry, we're late," Sylvia said meekly.

"There was a bigger crowd than we thought," Alex added.

"That's fine. You're the first here," Vlad said before catching sight of Abigail and Thalen with another young adult. The billionaire took in the situation quickly. It looked like Thalen was wobbling on his feet which caused Abigail and the new man to give the teen a worried look. Vlad also was slightly concerned about the halfa.

"Hi, Vlad. We ran into a little trouble," Abigail said a small concerned smile on her face.

Vlad looked at the newcomer, "Who is this?"

"My name is Robin. I'm like all of you," Robin said his hazel eyes looking straight at Vlad.

Vlad didn't need an explanation on what the young man was saying. "Have any of you seen Catalina?" he asked now concerned that the woman hadn't shown up yet. Alex and Sylvia both shook their head negative.

Thalen and Abigail also shook their heads 'no'. Vlad frowned feeling a little concern. "Maybe she was attacked by the same ghost that attacked us," Thalen said looking up.

"Nope, I just got distracted," the woman's voice came from the building that Vlad had exited. The older man turned to the woman. She was smiling, but Vlad could see that it was fake. He known her for months now and knew that the woman had been crying. He wouldn't comment on it now, but once they returned to the base he would press the matter of this mysterious ghost.

Vlad sensing how tired Thalen and Catalina were called his driver and the group boarded the limo; Robin also boarded the vehicle. Once everyone was settled, Vlad spoke to the newly discovered halfa. The billionaire explained what the group of halfas were striving to do and offered the same to Robin.

"I'll think about it," Robin said, "I still have family here."

"I understand. I'll have Morris drive by your house to drop you off," Vlad said knocking on the divider between the passengers and the driver before opening it. "Morris, can you head to 125 North Eighth Street?"

"Yes, Mr. Masters," the driver responded before Vlad closed the division again. Vlad felt something heavy land on his upper arm. He looked at the offending object which happened to be Catalina's head. She decided that Vlad would make a good pillow. The billionaire rolled his eyes but didn't move the exhausted woman.

"Thalen," Alex's voice complained as he pushed said teen away from him. Thalen frowned but leaned over to Abigail who didn't seem to mind lending her shoulder. Sylvia giggled at the trio as she focused back on her sketchbook.

The vehicle stopped at an apartment complex and Robin prepared to leave. "Robin, I hope to see you soon," Vlad stated.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Hi everyone, I apologize for the long wait for a short chapter. I've been a little down in the dumps. :( But don't worry I hope to have another chapter tomorrow.

* * *

Alex looked around the table at the other halfas. It was really quiet around the table. With both Thalen and Catalina picking at their food, the normal chatter was silenced. "What did the ghost say to the wall?" Alex asked waiting for a response or anything to break the awkward silence.

"I don't know," Sylvia responded figuring out what the teen was trying to do.

"Just passing through," Alex responded quickly before he lost his nerve. He looked at the response of the others. Sylvia and Abigail gave a polite giggle. Vlad rolled his eyes, but otherwise looked amused and Catalina gave him a half-hearted grin.

"That was a horrible joke," Thalen said grumpily.

"Why don't you tell one?" Catalina said a small grin on her face; Alex also smirked seeing that the woman took the words from his mouth.

"What kind of road do ghost haunt?" Thalen asked giving them a moment before answering his own question, "Dead ends." Alex groaned at the horrible joke.

"Oh, I got a joke. It's not a ghost one though," Catalina said already grinning madly. "Okay, so why did the rooster cross the road?...To see the chicken strip." The woman laughed madly and Vlad gave the woman an unamused look.

"Now that you jokers are done, I believe it's time for all of you to go to the training hall," Vlad said with a long-suffering tone.

"You heard the man. Let's get a move on," Catalina said springing to her feet. Alex smiled to himself glad that he could lift the spirits of his family-like team. Alex got to his feet followed by the others. He knew what they were going to work on; the last couple of training sessions were honing the nature of their core which when added to an ecto-blast could disrupt a ghost's core. Alex was really glad that he came with the group.

DP~DP~DP~

Vlad held Catalina as the others left. "Catalina," he started softly. The woman stopped instantly. The door closing behind the teen halfas was the only noise between the two. She gave another fake smile which was almost as bad as the fake laughter. "What's bothering you?" he asked.

"Nothing, silly," Catalina said with a fake smile.

Vlad gave her a disbelieving look. "Catalina, you're a horrible liar."

"I'm actually a brilliant liar…you just know me too well," she sighed the last bit, her smile slipping off her face.

"Is this about that ghost, the one that attacked Thalen and Abigail?" Vlad asked. The woman's brown eyes turned away.

"Please don't ask me," she whispered, "I'm fine. I'll be fine."

The man sighed, but knew the woman could be stubborn; besides, she knew that she could talk to him about anything. "Let's see what the others are working on," Vlad said letting the woman leave the dinning area.

The billionaire watched the halfas throw attacks at each other. Alex tossed an ectoblast that gleamed a blue color indicating the ice energy beneath it. It hit Abigail's shield, the attack tore through the shield easily knocking the girl down. "Alex, tone it down a little; we're just practicing," Vlad voiced concerned before the girl jumped back to her feet.

"I'm fine, Vlad," Abigail said cheerfully. Vlad hearing the remark turned his attention to Thalen and Sylvia.

The girl threw an ice-powered ecto-blast at Thalen who blocked the attack easily. "Come on, you can hit harder than that," the teen teased before a bigger ecto-blast shredded through his shield.

"I'm sorry. My aim is a bit off today," Alex called from the other side of the room. Sylvia was giggling at the display when Thalen shot an angry look at the other teen.

"Boys, back to your exercise," Catalina called out from Vlad's right. The two grumbled but all halfas returned to the training exercise.

"He showed you Daniel, didn't he?" Vlad said softly so only she could hear. The woman's eyes darted away.

"Does it matter? It's in the past and now I'm going to save him," Catalina said harshly.

"And what if he threatens them," Vlad said pointing to the four teens. "If saving him comes at the cost of one of their lives will you still try?"

"Yes," Catalina said, "Danny and you come first." The tone was cold coming off the woman. "Okay guys, time to turn in for the night," she called out to the four teens ending the conversation.

DP~DP~DP

Leon walked through the streets of Amity feeling down. He missed Pandora; the two met months ago and the two had hit it off. But now with the portal destroyed, he couldn't see her. He clenched his fists as he thought of the halfa woman who destroy the portal.

He would make her pay, but he had to find her first. This was proven to be harder than he had originally thought. The teen halfa looked up at the gleaming ghost shield, knowing that he couldn't stay any longer, not that he had anything to stay for.

"I heard that there has been a lot of ghost activity in Wisconsin," a woman's voice said softly. Leon's head perked at the information.

Leon left the talking couple behind with a new objective in mind. He was flying to Wisconsin.


	17. Chapter 17

Catalina laid on the hard ground looking up at the twinkling stars. She was glad to be out of the tunnels away from the others; it was nice not to have to pretend to be okay and that guilt wasn't eating away at your insides. Catalina traced the constellations that Danny had once pointed out a long time ago. "It alright, Cat. You'll get both of them back," she whispered to herself, "and things will be back to the way they were before. Even better now because we have even more halfas." She smiled to herself as she thought about it.

"Oh, I didn't know anyone is out here," Thalen's voice said oddly soft. Catalina sat up to look at the teen who normally was very loud.

"Don't worry about it. You can stay out here," Catalina said patting the ground beside her. The teen looked back once at the shed that disguised their hideout before sitting beside the woman.

The two halfas were silent. "Thalen, is everything alright?" Catalina asked now concerned about the silent halfa. Thalen shrugged. "Somber got to you didn't he?" she asked softly feeling slightly like a hypocrite.

"Yea, I mean, it shouldn't have bothered me. It was just a memory," Thalen said.

Catalina thought about it. "But that doesn't make it less painful," she muttered. She could feel the other halfas eyes on her. "If you don't mind, what was it?" Catalina asked. The teen looked at her conflict clearly written on his face; he wasn't going to tell her. "I have nightmares sometimes about that day in the lab. Sometimes I'm too late and Dan kills both," Catalina said trying to coax the younger halfa to talk to her. She became quiet and waited.

"I sometimes have dreams that I'm back in that lab that experimented on me," Thalen said softly. Catalina could taste the sweet misery that seeped of the younger halfa. She made herself scoot away from him to prevent herself from trying to consume the negative emotion.

"You don't have to worry about the lab," Catalina said, "They can't get to you. I won't let them." She looked to the younger halfa, glad to have someone else's problem to focus on. The younger halfa gave a slight smile, but didn't say anything else.

"Then don't worry about Dan; we'll separate him and Plasmius," Thalen said. Catalina smiled feeling oddly comforted.

DP~DP~DP~

Sylvia flew as quickly as she could around the football stadium. "Great job guys, keep moving," Catalina's voice came from below. The young artist smiled at the encouragement; she was glad that the woman was always so encouraging. Although she was getting tired of the laps that the woman had them flying; she was willing to fly more to show the older halfa her abilities.

She looked at the others who were keeping pace with her. "Okay, I think that's enough. Go ahead and come down," Catalina called from the ground. Sylvia dropped herself to the turf slowing slightly as she landed so she didn't injure herself.

"I was totally winning that race," Thalen boasted, "you slow pokes were nowhere close to me."

"You must be blind, Thalen. I was ahead," Alex voiced crossing his arms. "Right Sylvia."

"Uh, yes. You were faster than Thalen," Sylvia said stuttering a little from being put on the spot. Alex gave Thalen a smug grin; Thalen grimaced.

"Okay you two, both are you were great. Can we get back to the lesson?" Abigail asked giving both boys a glare of annoyance; she clearly didn't enjoy the numerous laps. The boys backed away from their glaring contest to look to Catalina who was stifling chuckles.

Seeing all the eyes on her, the oldest halfa straightened removing her hand from her mouth. "Okay, so. All of you have been doing well on using your cold or hot cores. So I'm moving on to the next lesson in my plans…"

"Teleportation," Thalen interrupted clearly excited. Sylvia also perked up thinking about all the beautiful landscapes she could see and paint.

"Not exactly," Catalina said her smile not faltering. "Duplication. Of course, if you don't want to learn that we can just fly more laps."

"No," all four teens shouted which caused the woman to chuckle.

"Okay. The first thing you need to know about duplication is that your duplicate will only do what you 'program' it to do," Catalina said. "For example, if you made the duplicate with the intention to invisibly spy on someone, the duplicate will only have the ability to fly and turn invisible and intangible. But it'll lack the ability to attack."

"Then why won't you just 'program' it to do everything you can do?" Thalen asked, "Seems kinda stupid to limit a duplicate."

"That's a very good question. And the answer is that it'll require more energy to create said duplicate. While you can regain whatever energy that the duplicate didn't use if it remerges. If the duplicate is destroyed the energy is released into the air."

"So what do we do first?" Alex asked. After some direction from Catalina the four teen halfas begun trying to duplicate.

"Good job, Sylvia. You're getting it," Catalina said from over the artist's right shoulder. Sylvia grinned even though she didn't feel successful. The woman stiffened and glared into the sky. "I'll be right back," she said.

The woman launched herself off of the ground and flew away. Sylvia watched as she disappeared from her view. The girl could feel her stomach clench, something wasn't right.

DP~DP~DP

Catalina landed far away from the football field. She searched for the source of the ghost signature she had sensed. She didn't recognize it and it was so faint as if the ghost was trying to hide from her. A slight thud alerted the woman who spun to face the sound to be met with a fist filled with bright green energy.

The woman tumbled to the ground rolling several feet away. She held her head in pain from the blow, her head spinning. "That's for destroying my portal," a blue-haired ghost said his fist still up. Catalina looked up at the ghost wobbling to her feet as she tried to remember where she saw the ghost. The memory wasn't coming to her, but she didn't have much time to think as the ghost charged at her.

He swung his fist and Catalina was slow to dodge earning a nice blow to her side which caused her to tumble once again. The woman tried to shake the fog that was gathering in her mind. The ghost was talking to her, but she couldn't hear it.

The ghost came flying at her another fist coming; Catalina created a dome of ecto-energy which blocked the first attack. The ghost's left fist broke through and Catalina caught it in her hand. She bit back a scream when the ghost's fist collided with the bones in her hand and sent an electric shock to her enemy.

The ghost swung his leg kicking the female halfa's already sensitive ribs causing the woman to release her hold and fall to the ground. Catalina looked up at the ghost who was starting to become blurry. The ghost stood over her with a smug grin. He struck downward and the woman spun out of the way in the nick of time getting to her feet in a smooth motion before her ribs flared angrily in pain. She fell back to her knees as another blow came her way.

Four green knives of ecto-energy landed in a thud in front of the woman blocking the other ghost. The blade dissolved into bubbling energy. "Did anyone teach you not to hit old ladies?" Catalina heard over the ringing in her ears.

Thalen landed between Catalina and the other ghost; Alex was seconds behind him also putting himself between the two combatant ghosts. The woman looked at the two teens and couldn't help the proud smile that spread across her face.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Hi everyone, I'm so sorry this is super late. I have no excuse, so please enjoy this.

* * *

Leon raised his fist studying the two new ghosts that landed in front of the halfa woman. The taller teen's eyes were neon orange with black sclera and was looking at him smugly. The shorter teen's dark purple eyes were narrowed at him. Leon shifted his weight looking over the two teen's head to look for the woman who was his real target.

Leon was already feeling the drain that his abilities had on him, but he wouldn't stop the fight. It wasn't just about the woman destroying the portal, but about him losing contact with Pandora who was the only person he actually got along with.

Leon stopped making his hands glow green coming up with an idea. He waited and as exactly as he thought the taller teen struck. He flew toward Leon with a punch. The attack landed, but Leon absorbed the anger of the other halfa before the teen backtracked giving the combatants space.

The anger of the other halfa boosted the energy that ran through Leon's body feeling like a shot of caffeine. Now more energized, Leon had more confidence in the battle. "Thalen," the shorter of the two boys called out. Thalen gave a quick glance to the other teen. Before they could collaborate, Leon charged swinging his fist to hit the shorter teen.

The shorter teen didn't dodge in time and got a full strike to his side sending him flying. Leon turned quickly, but not quickly enough to dodge the volley of ecto-knives that struck his back. Leon shot two ectoblasts from his fists before the second teen struck from behind knocking Leon forward.

DP~DP~DP

Alex took a short breath; his ribs were aching from the hit that the strange new ghost made. But Thalen and he had the upper hand and Alex knew it. Alex flew in distracting the new ghost before Thalen shot more of those ecto-knives and Alex changed directions before the other ghost attacked him. The other ghost looked upset as Thalen and Alex buzzed around him darting in and out landing small strikes. The other ghost shot ecto-blasts that hit both Alex and Thalen.

Alex narrowed his eyes before drawing the chill from his core and shot a blue ecto-blast filled with his ice energy at the ghost's feet freezing them to the ground. The ghost narrowed his green eyes at Alex as he tried to pull himself out of the block of ice that bound him to the ground.

Thalen gave a confident laugh and even Alex had to grin. Alex caught Thalen's gaze and both nodded knowing that they had to use their speed to land as many hits as possible. Alex flew as fast as he could shooting ecto-blasts that the other ghost dispelled with his own blasts.

The ghost could only focus on one of the halfas which caused him to be hit from ecto-blasts from Alex and ecto-knives from Thalen. With a snarl, the ghost broke the ice before trying to land a hit on Thalen who was standing too close. Thalen put up an ecto-shield but it wasn't strong enough to hold back the ghost's attack. Alex gathered both ice energy and ecto-energy and slammed both of his fists into the ghost's back.

Thalen gave a grumbled thanks as the ghost fell to the ground. Both teens landed prepared to attack once again if the ghost got up. White rings blinded the two teens leaving them blinking at a human teen on the ground. "No way, another halfa?" Thalen called out looking at Alex as if asking if he knew.

Alex didn't care if the ghost was a halfa, he decided to attack Catalina so he turned to see if the woman was alright. Abigail and Sylvia had one of the woman's arms around their shoulders holding up the barely conscious halfa. "Stop you two," Catalina said as all three female halfas came closer to the fallen ghost.

Alex watched as the woman removed one of her arms from and offered her hand to the new halfa. "I apologize for destroying your portal. I didn't know that it meant so much to you," the woman said softly. The human teen looked around at the group of halfas with his hazel eyes.

"Why don't you come with us? It's better than being alone," Abigail said with a cheerful smile.

"Why would I want to do that?" the ghost asked.

"Maybe because we just kicked your butt," Thalen suggested with a smirk. "It was really easy too."

"You're awfully proud of an uneven fight," the ghost said glaring at the thief.

"And you cowardly attacked an enemy from behind," Alex said.

"Catalina," Sylvia called out concerned causing Alex to look up to see that the woman had lost her battle with consciousness. "I think we should be going back." Alex had to agree with the artist.

"Let's go back home," Thalen said, "We'll leave him here not like he is a problem." The halfa glared at Thalen's arrogant attitude. The boys watched as the girls took off to the sky before also retreating themselves.

DP~DP~DP~

Vlad waited by the elevator looking at his watch quickly and frowning. The rest of the group should have been back. The ding of the elevator was a relief to hear, but also caused the man to worry. Something made the halfas late and Vlad hoped that the teens and Catalina were not seriously injured.

The doors of the elevator slid open revealing the group of halfas. Vlad's eyes were drawn to Catalina who hung limply between Abigail and Sylvia. He narrowed his eyes feeling anger toward whoever did this to the woman. "It wasn't us," Alex spoke up clearly reading the anger in the older man's face. "It was this halfa-"

"You carried her like that?" the man growled before taking the woman from the girl's as gently as he could. Thalen gave a little smirk at the pair, but Vlad didn't comment and let the teen think whatever he wanted to. "Are any of you injured?" Vlad asked looking over the teens. Thalen and Alex looked like they were slightly tired.

"Just some bruises, nothing that I can't handle," Thalen boasted. Abigail poked him in the ribs which made the former thief yelp in pain.

Vlad chuckled a little, "Follow me, I'll lead you to the infirmary." He walked with measured steps to the room he mentioned. The infirmary was one of the first rooms set up in the tunnel system; the billionaire had thought it wise to have a large supply of medical equipment.

All four teens filed into the room standing in the corner as Vlad placed Catalina onto one of the beds. "Abigail, I have a roll of bandages in that drawer. Can you use them to wrap Thalen's ribs?" The girl nodded and Vlad turned his attention back to Catalina.

After a half hour, he had three halfas ordered on bedrest to allow their wounds to heal. Vlad looked from a frustrated, but conscious Catalina to an annoyed Thalen to Alex who was taking his confinement pretty well. "I'm perfectly fine. Besides I'm sure everyone is hungry. I could cook something," Catalina voiced; Vlad smirked knowing that the woman was just trying to find an excuse to get away from the infirmary.

"I'm sure I can manage. Sylvia, will you like to help me with dinner?" Vlad asked the young artist who pointed at herself with a small 'me?' "I don't see another Sylvia around here," Vlad responded. The girl looked uncertain but with a little encouragement from Abigail the girl agreed to help the billionaire.

DP~DP~DP

Robin flew through the skies looking for the memory-ghost; he had a personal score to settle with the ghost. "Hey, this is my turf," a brash female voice called out drawing the halfa's attention. A girl ghost with her white curly pulled into a high ponytail floated into Robin's view. Her neon green eyes were narrowed at the older halfa.

"I didn't mean to intrude. I'm just looking for a ghost," Robin said calmly not wanting to get into an unnecessary fight.

"Well you found one," the girl said as green energy formed in her fists.

"I'll be out of your hair as soon as I find this ghost. I promise," Robin said.

"Oh yeah, like I believe that," the ghost girl said putting one meshed-gloved hand on her hip over her black fitted jeans. She rolled her eyes with a scoff. The girl flew at Robin and the halfa barely dodged the attack the girl was a lot quicker than the halfa thought.

"What's your name?" Robin asked hoping to talk down the eager to fight ghost.

"Wendy. Wendy Lostheart," the ghost asked before shooting an ectoblast at Robin who blocked the attack with a ghost shield. Robin rose one eyebrow feeling like the ghost wasn't being honest with him; he couldn't see why the ghost lied but didn't focus on it long before dodging more ecto-blasts. He weaved through the blasts to get close to the ghost and restraining her arms.

"Let me go," the girl shouted as she tried to pry herself from Robin's grasp.

"Not until you calm down," Robin chided. The girl huffed trying to turn intangible; Robin also turned intangible so he retained his grip. "Now can we talk instead of fighting like children," Robin said.

"Let me go you perv," Wendy complained once again before pausing as a stream of ice blue mist broke the sentence.

* * *

A/N: Hey sorry for the late update. For being patient with me, I decided to write a little extra for you. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Sylvia could think of a million ways this could go wrong and each of them ended with a large explosion and/or fire. "Come child, you can't be frightened of the kitchen," Vlad chided as he pulled out pots and pans.

"Are you sure you want me to help? I could burn the whole compound down," Sylvia asked quietly.

"I highly doubt that," Vlad chuckled as he opened the fridge to pull out various ingredients as Sylvia watched. "Put on Catalina's apron," the man ordered pointing to a teal apron hanging on a hook. The artist nodded putting on the apron and walking cautiously to the stove as Vlad started to put butter in a hot pan and it sizzled.

Sylvia tried not to flinch at the sound. "Just stir this pot. It's a simple enough task," Vlad said as he focused his attention to another pan.

Sylvia gulped but positioned herself beside the older man. The two became quiet which was fine with Sylvia who wasn't comfortable with speaking with people in general. "Sylvia, you're burning it," Vlad scolded as he shooed her away.

Sylvia tried not to feel so offended, but she couldn't help it. "Wow, it smells good in here," a cheerful voice said. Sylvia looked to see Catalina phase through with a smile on her face. "Vlad, calm down. Everything smells wonderful," she continued giving Sylvia a larger smile. "Thank you for all your help, Sylvia. You did great." Sylvia gave the woman a grateful smile as she passed to sit on the counter next to the stove.

Vlad gave the woman a glare, "You should be resting." He returned his gaze to his meal.

"Pfft, Abigail isn't the best guard," Catalina said, "And it's boring in there. So how much longer till dinner is ready?"

Sylvia heard Vlad repeat Catalina's name. "Are you feeling better?" Sylvia asked causing both adults to stop their conversation.

"She has a concussion, bruised ribs, and a fractured wrists," Vlad answered as Catalina also responded, 'never better'.

"Clearly even a bump on the head can't knock any sense into you," Vlad said.

"Oh Vlad, you're fun. You even started a nice fire," Catalina said with a laugh.

"Oh snickerdoodles," Vlad cursed as he handled the fire while Catalina laughed. Sylvia stared wide-eyed at the scene.

"I'll go ahead an order some Chinese takeout," Catalina said, "Maybe Sylvia needs to give you cooking lessons."

"Very funny, Catalina," Vlad said finally getting the fire under control. Sylvia smiled at the thought knowing that she was a horrible cook. "However, I'm more than willing to teach you how to cook, Sylvia."


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Hi everyone, it's nice to see you all again. Anyways thank you for reading and reviewing. It means a lot for me. Please forgive me if I don't personally respond to each review, but sometimes life gets in the way.

* * *

"I don't know why you want to find that creep," Thalen said with a huff. Abigail had to agree with the other halfa.

"For once I agree with Thalen," Alex said seriously.

Catalina who was leading the group through the city spun around to face the teens. She made an exaggerated shocked/ frightened face. "Both of you agree on something? The world must be ending," the woman said. Abigail put a hand to her face so the boys couldn't see the smile that was forming due to the woman's theatrics. Said halfas didn't look amuse at the woman. "To answer your question. This halfa is family. Family fights sometimes," she said before continuing forward.

"Won't it be better for us to separate to cover more ground," Abigail suggested. The woman stopped to face the teens again.

"Excellent idea. Make sure you go in pairs," Catalina said before continuing her path. Leaving all four teens looking at each other.

Abigail decided to take control of the situation. "Come on, Thalen," Abigail said grabbing the taller halfa and heading toward the crosswalk. The taller halfa stumbled a little but quickly regain his balance.

"If you wanted to be alone with me, you could have said so," Thalen said with a smirk. Abigail could feel her cheeks burn as she blushed.

"You were pretty awesome in that fight," Abigail said trying to change the subject.

"I know. I could have done more, but Alex kept getting in my way," Thalen responded. Abigail shook her head in amusement at the arrogant tone the other halfa used.

"Right. I hope that halfa didn't go too far. It will be nice to have someone else around," Abigail said. The pair paused to let a couple walk past them on the sidewalk.

Thalen crossed his arms, "I don't think we need him. We can take Dan." Abigail could tell that the older teen was upset, but didn't know why.

"Catalina wants to wait till Vlad finishes the ghost gauntlets," Abigail said, but understood why the other teen wanted to get the fight with Dan over with.

"Yea, I know," Thalen said, "I just wish he will finish them faster." Abigail couldn't help but agree with him; as soon as Dan was defeated, she'll be able to go home. She was really missing her home; not that there was anything wrong with staying with the halfas, but it wasn't family.

Thalen continued their previous path. Abigail followed and almost bumped into a couple who was staring at Thalen. "I'm so sorry," the girl said politely.

Abigail gave the couple a strange look. The woman was slightly shorter than Thalen with straight black hair. The man beside her was taller with black hair as well. "Can I help you?" Thalen asked feeling uncomfortable with the pair of dark blue eyes that were staring at him.

"Thalen?" the woman asked softly.

Thalen narrowed his eyes, "Who wants to know?"

The woman frowned before opening her purse and holding out her wallet. Abigail could see Thalen's mind working; no doubt he was wondering if he could take off with the woman's wallet. "I'm your mother," the woman said pointing at her wallet.

Abigail leaned forward so she could look at the offered object. A small picture of the couple and younger Thalen smiled back at the girl. She looked over at Thalen to look at his reaction. The former thief was quiet for a moment. "Where have you been?" he asked his voice low and dangerous.

"Son, you were taken from us. We have been searching for you. We did everything in our power," the man said as if pleading with the teen to believe him.

"And to think when we were at a convention, we would bump into you," the woman said tearing up. Thalen looked back at the picture with a sad smile.

"Mom, Dad," he said slowly as if trying to remember. The woman nodded and released a small sob.

"Come home with us, son. It will be like it was before," the man said. Thalen frowned again.

"I was alone for years in a lab and you think you can come back here and ask me to go home," Thalen said that dangerous tone.

"Give us a minute," Abigail said as the parents finally noticed her. The girl pulled Thalen to the side out of earshot of the two adults. "Thalen," Abigail started softly.

"What?" Thalen said crossing his arms.

"You should talk to them. They are your actual family," Abigail admonished.

"Real family doesn't desert each other. Especially not to a strange lab," Thalen said.

"You don't have to go with them just talk with them," Abigail said. Abigail could see that the thief was becoming more stubborn.

"I don't need them," Thalen said starting to walk away from Abigail and the two adults. Abigail grabbed his purple shirt.

"Please, Thalen. For me?" she asked batting her eyes. The taller halfa's gaze softened and he sighed.

"Fine. But only for five minutes," Thalen said stomping to the two adults. Abigail smiled fondly thinking of her own parents. She decided that the other halfa needed his personal space. Without a word, Abigail left the male halfa alone.

DP~DP~DP

Robin didn't release the ghost girl as the ghost that set off their ghost sense came into view. Robin narrowed his blue eyes at the suit-wearing ghost. "Somber," Robin greeted.

"Hey, what's the big idea? Trying to come here and take my turf," Wendy complained from his grasp.

"It is nice to see you again, Robin. Or do you prefer Revenant?" Somber asked his tone polite.

"I'll make a deal with you, Wendy. Help me beat this ghost and I'll leave," Robin whispered to the girl that was still in his arms.

The girl was silent for a moment. "You better leave," she said harshly. Robin took this as the closest he would get to an agreement and released her.

"So make sure you don't get too –" Robin started stopping as the girl flew straight to the misery-consuming ghost. "close," the older halfa ended his sentence with a sigh. Robin shot an ecto-blast at both Wendy and Somber. Both ghosts dodged the attack. Wendy sent an angry look at Robin before flying into his face.

"What's your issue? Attacking me behind my back," Wendy shouted her fists clenched.

"You can't let him touch you. And you can't lay a hand on him," Robin stated hoping that the other ghost would accept his words.

"And why not?" the girl said hands on her hips.

Robin grabbed the girl by her white tank top and spinning both out of the way of an attack. "Just trust me," he said. The girl's green eyes looked at him suspiciously, but didn't comment. Robin let go of the ghost girl and both repositioned themselves to face Somber. "We attack at once. Ecto-blast only no punches."

"Whatever," Wendy responded before both peppered Somber with attacks that he blocked with an ecto-shield. The misery ghost disappeared in a swirl of green energy. Robin snarled at the other ghost's trick. "Well, that's just great. He teleported," Wendy said looking left and right her white ponytail swinging back and forth.

A tap on Robin's shoulder sent a shudder down his spine. "Sorry dear friend, but I really need the extra energy. You know with the crazy ex-halfa around," the ghost's cultured voice said beside Robin.

"Hey get back here," Wendy shouted shooting two ecto-blasts that barely missed Robin. Robin clutched his head as a massive headache racked his brain.

 _Robin was walking down the street. "So Rachel is going to prom with me," the teenage boy beside him said._

 _"_ _That's great. I told you that you just needed to ask," Robin responded._

 _"_ _Really, asking a woman to a dance isn't as frightening as laying siege to a castle," said the ghost that floated on Robin's other side. The teen smirked at the ghost's comment giving the ghost a small glance. The ghost was dressed in a blue tunic which matched his flaming hair. Robin would have responded to the ghost, but he knew that his friend couldn't see him._

 _"_ _So now I have to find a tux and a limo.." Robin's friend began to drone on._

 _"_ _Robin!" the ghost beside Robin called out in warning. Robin looked up to see a pair of bright headlights heading toward him. Fear chilled his blood, but he didn't wait a second. Robin shoved his friend off the street. He held his breath as the light of the headlights enveloped him._

 _The next thing he knew was pain. He tried to breathe but his ribs were stabbing him. "Robin," the ghost in the tunic called out concerned. Robin looked to the sound of the ghost's voice, but he could barely see the ghost's glowing aura._

 _"_ _Aeon," Robin gurgled._

 _"_ _Robin, you need to stay awake. Your comrade has called for aide," Aeon said his red eyes concerned._

 _"_ _I don't think I'm going to make it," Robin said softly. His mind turned to Naomi; how was she going to make it through life without her big brother. The guilt of leaving his sister was gnawing at his stomach. Robin's vision was turning black and there was nothing he could do to stop it._

 _…_ _.._

 _The steady beeping of a heart monitor brought Robin back to the present. He opened his eyes slowly. His body was still aching all over, but it didn't compare to the collision. The teenage boy could feel Aeon's cool presence. "Aeon, you're here," Robin said greeting the ghost._

 _"_ _You are my brother-in-arms. Of course, I'm here," Aeon said a small smile on his face. Robin could tell something was wrong the ghost seemed to be leaning forward slightly, his normally proud stance slouching._

 _"_ _What's wrong, Aeon?" Robin asked._

 _"_ _I guess I should explain, but I don't have much time," the medieval ghost said with a sigh. "You were dying, Robin. I didn't have much of a choice."_

 _"_ _What did you do?" Robin asked feeling concerned for his friend._

 _"_ _It's not important. What is important is to use this second chance I gave you," the medieval ghost said, his form letting off green streams of energy._

 _"_ _You can't just give your life for me," Robin shouted hoarsely._

 _"_ _It's my afterlife to give, Robin. I was once betrayed by my brothers-in-arms for protecting my sister. It would have been a betrayal if I didn't help you," the ghost said wisely._

 _"_ _Aeon," Robin said not wanting to believe that he was losing his friend. "You can't just leave like this."_

 _The medieval ghost smiled as his form slowly dissipated. "It's okay. I found peace."_

Robin clutched his white shirt over his chest. His breath heaving. "Pretty good, huh," Wendy's voice came from his side.

"What are you talking about?" Robin asked as the exhaustion set in.

The girl tossed her hair, "In case you didn't notice. I got us out of there. You know falling out of the sky isn't that helpful."

"Well, thanks. You should go back to the ghost zone," Robin said. "It would be safer for you there."

"Yeah, I'm not going to. That ghost can't just come in here like he owns the place," Wendy said. Robin sighed.

"Well, you're not strong enough to make him leave. Besides, all he wants is misery. He'll be out of here once he gets it," Robin said bluntly.

"You might not be strong enough to take that ghost, but you don't know anything about me," Wendy said confidently. "However, I know you're half human," the girl said smugly. Robin took a quick glance at himself to note that he was indeed in his human form. "You're half human," she repeated again the brash attitude from before disappearing quickly. "I mean. Wow. I didn't even know that there were others. I thought I was all alone. It's so weird being a freak."

"Wait you're a halfa as well," Robin asked in disbelief; he thought meeting the group of halfas was odd and to meet another seemed outside the realm of possibility.

"halfa? That sounds like a derogatory term. Don't ever call me that again," Wendy said angrily.

"Halfa is just what the ghosts call half-human, half-ghost hybrids," Robin said. "It isn't derogatory."

"Well, I don't like it. So anyways, I got to go home before I'm late for dinner. I'll see you later…"

"Robin. My name is Robin," the male halfa said. The female halfa smirked.

"The name's Gwendolyn, but call me Gwen. If you call me by my full name I'll have to beat your face in," the girl said punching her palm to make her point.

Robin chuckled at the spirited response. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Yea, back at you," the girl said before taking to the sky.

DP~DP~DP~

A/N: Hey everyone here's a couple of extras just because.

Abigail pulled a rather reluctant Sylvia to her bedroom. "I'm so glad you get to spend the night. It'll be just like a sleepover."

"Oh, I've never been over to a sleepover," Sylvia said in her soft voice.

"It will be loads of fun. We can paint our nails, do our hair and eat everything," Catalina said as she skipped beside the two girls.

"Do you have nail polish, Catalina?" Abigail asked.

The woman gave a large grin, "Do I?" She pulled out a clear box filled with various colors. "I even have things to make nail art." The woman put the box on the ground before sitting on the ground herself.

Abigail grinned as she too sat down. Sylvia followed afterwards. The three became quiet for a moment. "So. I saw some of your drawings, Sylvia. Why are there so many of Alex?" Catalina asked acting nonchalantly as she picked up a blue nailpolish bottle.

Abigail watched as the artist blushed. "He's just easier to draw," the girl said sheepishly.

Catalina gave a wide grin. "Right. I think there should be more pictures of me," she said.

"Do you have any of me?" Abigail asked.

"Yes, I have some of you Abigail. And Catalina, your ghost form is difficult to draw," the girl explained.

"How so," Catalina asked finishing one of her nails and pausing to look at the artist.

"You see. You smile a lot and in your ghost form you have fangs. It's kinda hard to get your smile without it looking creepy," Sylvia explained as if afraid that the woman would be upset. Abigail watched as the woman started to laugh.

"I guess that's true. Hey, Can I braid your hair? Vlad doesn't let me braid his," Catalina asked almost spilling the nailpolish she was using.

"You asked Vlad to braid his hair?" Abigail asked giving the woman a strange look.

"I can't braid mine. It's too short," Catalina answered as if it was obvious and a reasonable excuse to braid the billionaire's hair.

"I don't feel comfortable with you touching my hair," Sylvia said.

Catalina turned her brown eyes to Abigail. "Sure, can you make it a French braid?" Abigail responded. The woman nodded enthusiastically.

….

Thalen blocked the attack from the older man. Vlad resumed his battle stance the foil in his hand perfectly aimed at the teen. "You seem distracted," Vlad pointed out before jabbing the teen.

"What do you think the girls are talking about?" he asked as he tightened his grip on the sword made from ecto-energy.

"Not you," Alex's voice rang out from his position in the corner. He looked over the book in his hand to glare at Thalen.

"Don't you want to see what they are up to?" Thalen asked the other teen. Vlad hit the teen once again with his foil.

"You will leave the women alone. They want time to bond together," Vlad said reprimanding the teen.

"Let's bond by spying on the girl's. Don't you want to see Sylvia's pajamas?" Thalen asked Alex earning another whack from Vlad's foil.

"You will treat the women with respect. But if you don't want to train anymore, we can do something else," Vlad suggested.

"How about a video game?" Alex suggested.

"Sounds great. I'll cream you both," Thalen bragged.

…..

Both Thalen and Alex stared at Vlad in disbelief. "If you don't close your mouth, you're going to catch flies," Vlad said.

"Wait you can game?" Thalen asked still not believing he lost. Even Alex looked shocked.

The man smirked, "There's a lot you don't know about me."


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Hi everyone, how's it going. Okay so I'm not feeling this chapter but oh well. I do have an important announcement. On May 15th, I will begin a year and half hiatus. So this means one of two things: 1. You all can wait for another chapter or 2. I'll hand off this fic to one of you.

* * *

Thalen crossed his arms as he listened to the two people who claimed to be his parents. He honestly didn't remember anything the two were talking about and honestly he wanted to go back to the halfa group. He wouldn't admit it to them because of his pride, but they were the closest thing to family he had.

"That's nice and all, but I have to go. I'm very busy and should get going," Thalen said gruffly interrupting the woman as she was talking.

"But-we just found you. And we were thinking that you'll want to come back home," the woman said her eyes filling with tears.

"Well, you thought wrong. I don't need either of you," Thalen said angrily, the woman's tears not having any effect on him.

"But where are you going to stay? What are you going to eat?" the woman asked panic in her voice.

"Thalen," Catalina's voice shouted causing the teen to turn and face the woman. She slammed into him crushing him in a hug. She released him before adding, "I have been looking all over for you." Thalen was about to speak when the woman saw the two human adults. She gave a quick glance between Thalen and his parents.

The teen tried to discretely convey that he didn't want to talk to this people who claimed to be his parents. His message must have made it to the woman because she took a protective step in front of him. "I'm sorry. I don't think we've met before. My name's Catalina," the woman introduced herself.

Thalen didn't catch the adults' names, but he didn't care to know them. They abandoned him and nothing they could do will erase that. "Oh, isn't this awkward," the female halfa said with a concerned look. "You see. When I was in Hong Kong, I found Thalen. I saw how he was lonely and I couldn't stand for it. Well, long story short…I adopted him because I thought he didn't have any parents." The woman looked sadly at the teen halfa before looking back to his parents. "I guess in the end it is Thalen's choice," the woman said softly.

Thalen realized what the woman gave him: a chance to get away from these strangers. He mentally smirked before answering, "Of course I choose you, Mom." The taller halfa knew that the woman hated to be called 'mom' even in a sarcastic tone because she was 'not that old'.

"Aww, I love you too," the woman said hugging the teen much to the teen's embarrassment. "I'm not that old," she whispered to him before letting go of him. "I'm so sorry," Catalina said to the two adults who looked at each other confused.

"You can't take him away from us," Thalen's estranged mother shouted being held back by the man.

"I apologize, but he's mine now," Catalina said her loud cheery voice becoming low.

"He's my son."

"He was your son before you abandon him," Catalina said raising her voice, her eyes flashed a brilliant red as the air around her warmed. Thalen looked at the woman knowing that she was angry; he had first hand knowledge of the woman's wrath. The two adults shrunk back no doubt catching the red flash of her eyes. "I recommend that you leave now," the woman said her voice low. The man getting the hint pulled his wife away as she screamed at him and the woman.

"Catalina," Thalen called out to the woman feeling a little nervous at the smirk the woman gave the two retreating adults.

"Well, that was very interesting. Anywho, I need to continue looking for the other halfa. Where did Abigail run off to? I thought I told you to travel in pairs," the woman chattered her earlier demeanor replaced with her normal cheerful one.

"She wanted me to speak to them. Maybe hoping that I'll bond with them or something stupid like that," Thalen said.

Catalina shrugged, "She just wants what's best for you." The woman started to walk away and Thalen followed after her.

"Hey, thanks for chasing them off. I don't know what they were thinking. Like I will go with them," Thalen grumbled thinking about the two adults.

"I know. Apparently you'll like me as your mom more," Catalina said giving the teen a smirk.

"Oh yeah, let's just get those adoption papers signed," Thalen said sarcastically. "I'll love to have Vlad as a dad." The thief jumped as the woman shocked him.

"Seriously, will you just stop with those comments," Catalina said rolling her eyes and hurrying her pace.

Thalen shrugged off her frustration; it was a common argument between the two. "Thalen, there you are. How did it go? Did you bond with your parents? What are they like?" Abigail's voice called out before she came into view.

"Ugh, I don't want to see them ever again," Thalen grumbled. The teen girl looked a little disappointed.

"I'm sorry to hear that," the girl said slumping a little, making the thief feel slightly guilty.

"It's not your fault. Besides I like hanging out with you guys more," Thalen said.

"If I could, I would go home," Abigail sadly. "I miss my family."

"You're more than welcome to go home," Catalina said her tone unreadable.

"But I'm needed here. I'll be home soon enough," Abigail said.

"Right, you'll be home in no time. Hey I got to get going, you know cover more ground and all that," Catalina said giving the two a quick wave, "Make sure you meet me in another fifteen minutes." The teens watched as Catalina went into an alley as a human and fly out as a ghost.

"You know you shouldn't tease her about Vlad," Abigail said seriously. Talen gave her a smirk.

"Why not? It's obvious that they have something going on," Thalen said.

Abigail looked away, "That's only half true. He's not quite over his lost love. But Catalina admitted that she does have feelings for him, but she told Sylvia and me in confidence so don't tell anyone."

"And you're telling me this because you can't keep a secret," Thalen said knowingly deciding to avoid thinking about the two adults' issues.

"Maybe," the girl answered blushing cutely. "I guess we should look for that halfa."

"Or we don't and say we did," Thalen suggested. The girl smiled and nodded.

DP~DP~DP

Catalina flew through the air. She should have kept her cool around Thalen's parents, but she couldn't lose her new family. The woman shook her head; the teens would have to go home eventually. She really didn't have any claim to them.

Catalina sighed and decided to think about that dilemma when it came up. She knew Vlad would tell her that she had to think about the future, but why worry when more exciting things were happening in the present. Speaking of exciting, Catalina felt the faint energy of the halfa that has been causing trouble.

She dove sharply as she saw him, landing roughly on the ground creating a crater in the dirt. "Found you," she said excitedly throwing a peace sign for good measure.

"Just leave me alone," the halfa said as he pushed past the woman; her small frame was easily pushed to one side.

"Hey, just let me talk," the woman complained flying over the teen so she was floating closer to his height.

The teen crossed his arms around his black trench coat. "If I listen will you leave me alone? Your voice is irritating."

"Yes.. maybe," the woman answered. The teen's ocean blue eyes narrowed at the answer. "So what's your name? I would rather call you by your name and not just as you," the woman rambled ignoring the obvious displeasure on the other halfa's face.

"Leon," the other halfa said with coldly.

"Okay so Leon. I know we got off on the wrong foot. But I want to offer you a place to stay you'll be with others like you," Catalina said trying to persuade the halfa.

"No," Leon answered coldly.

"You're sure worked up over some portal. Just get over it. Natural portals open up all the time," Catalina said exasperated.

"This isn't about just the portal. You separated me from…someone important to me," Leon said clenching his fist.

Catalina noticed the threatening action. "Is that it? What if I told you I could make a permanent portal?" It'll have to be at my base of operation, so me and my frien- partner, Vlad, can have control over it. Of course, you can use it anytime you want." The woman said cheerfully. She knew that there was no way she had the power to open a portal to the Ghost Zone, but Leon didn't have to know that.

"What's the catch?" Leon asked.

"No catch. Just stay with me and my band of halfas. You'll have a place to stay and food to eat and real clothes," the woman stating adding the last part when she caught sight of the other halfa's clothing choice: bandages under a trenchcoat and pants a size too big.

"There's nothing wrong with the way I dress," Leon said clenching his fists tighter, "I don't need you, any of you." Catalina let the teen get away this only because she knew he could pack a punch and she wasn't in the mood for a fight.

She turned away from the teen, deciding that Leon just needed more time. He'll come around eventually.

DP~DP~DP

Robin walked along the street. "I found you," a girl's voice called out. Robin turned to see a girl running towards him. Her short-topped boots were pounding the sidewalk and her nude-colored cardigan fluttered in the wind. Robin briefly wondered how the girl was running in her wedged boots. The girl tripped and fell forward. The taller halfa caught her easily and set her on her feet. "Hey, Robin. How's it going? Did you find that ghost yet? I have been searching for him and haven't found him. But if I did find him I bet I would have beaten him up."

"I'm doing well. Thanks for asking, Gwen," Robin responded wondering what was up with the younger halfa.

Gwen ran her fingers through her curly dark brown hair. "So I was thinking we can go looking for the ghost. I mean with your help, beating that ghost will be a sinch," the girl said.

Robin grinned, "I'm sure it will be. But you can't touch him."

"Oh yeah, like I didn't learn from the last time," Gwen said sarcastically. "So I'm thinking we surround him and then pump him full of ectoplasm until he begs for mercy."

"That could work, but I was thinking an ambush would be more effective," Robin admitted.

"At the hospital?" Gwen suggested, "Lots of miserable people there. Or maybe a nursing home or a school. Definitely a school. I'm always miserable there."

"Let's try the hospital, first. Somber likes deeper misery. Something like death and the like," Robin said with some thought.

"So not the school," Gwen responded with a chuckle.

* * *

A/N: Here's another extra for you because I like all of you.

Vlad looked at the freshly turned dirt beneath a large stone headstone. The name was clearly written on the smooth surface, 'Daniel Fenton'. Although Vlad had wanted to have his last name on the tombstone, but he decided he could at least honor the teen enough to have his own last name.

It was strange how empty he felt. The billionaire felt sorrow, but also a strange feeling of hopelessness. He had no clue where to go from here; all that he ever wanted was gone. He had nothing to strive for.

A small sniffle drew his attention away from his thoughts and toward the shorter woman standing beside him. "Vlad," the woman started softly, her eyes were not looking at him.

"Catalina," he responded to tell the woman that he had heard her.

"We'll get him back," the woman said with a surety.

"Who? Daniel is gone," Vlad said spitefully.

"Plasmius, Phantom," the woman said looking up at him. "Plasmius is part of you and Phantom must have a piece of Danny there as well."

Vlad wanted to scoff at the woman's naivety, but he could see the plead on her face; she wanted to believe what she said. He just sighed tiredly and walked away from the woman. A hand grabbed his and he stopped to face her. "If you want to continue with an impossibility, I don't want to follow you," the man said calmly, thinking that this would cause the woman to leave.

"Fine, but I want to stand by you," the woman said with conviction. The man narrowed his eyes and was about to retort when the woman spoke again. "We're all that we have left…I don't want to be alone anymore," she whispered lowering her head again.

The billionaire thought it over; truthfully, he didn't want to be alone as well. Vlad exhaled sharply, "you may come with me."

…..

Catalina pressed her hand into her side, sticky ectoplasm dripping from her fingers. She hadn't expected Dan to be that powerful. She tripped over her heavy feet and reprimanded herself for allowing herself to be hit so many times. She had thought that perhaps she could talk Dan out of his blind hate, but the now full ghost nearly tore her apart.

Catalina was truly regretting trying to fight the former half-ghost on her own. "Catalina?" Vlad's voice was a comfort to hear. "What did you do?" he asked harshly before pulling her arm around his shoulder. Grateful for the assist, Catalina slumped against him.

"I tried to talk to Dan. It didn't end well," she said with a chuckle. "I probably should have dodged a little more."

"Catalina, this is serious. You could have been killed," Vlad reprimanded.

Catalina chuckled a little to herself; she didn't really believe that the man truly cared. He was still mourning Madeline. But he brought up an interesting point. What if she died? Would she become a ghost like Dan? An empty shell of what she once was? Panic started to form at the pit of her stomach.

"Vlad," she said her voice squeaking. The man looked at her and acknowledged her call. "If I die, what will happen? Would I become a ghost? Will I be like Skulker or Ember? Will I be so obsessed with something that I'll be nothing but a mirage of who I am?" Catalina could hear the desperation in her voice. "I don't want to be a full ghost," she admitted softly. She looked up at Vlad who had not said a word. "If I were to become a full ghost, will you destroy me?" it was a desperate supplication.

"You won't become like Dan, Catalina," Vlad answered avoiding her final question.

"That's not the point. I won't be me. Please Vlad, promise me this at least," the woman pleaded.

Vlad sighed, "I give you my word." Catalina didn't know why that calmed her panic for the time being.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Hi everyone, so I guess this is obvious, but I'm no longer going on hiatus. If you are really curious (you're probably aren't), you can ask what happened. Anywho, I'm rather excited for the next chapter and I wanted to say if you guys want something specific to happen to our halfas, just message/review and I'll add it as an 'extra'.

* * *

Sylvia sat at the dining table with all the halfas and Vlad. There was a strange excitement that clung in the air. The young artist didn't know why it was. Catalina was chatting animatedly with Vlad who seemed just as pleased with whatever they were speaking about. Thalen and Alex were getting along well talking about some game and Vlad. Sylvia caught only part of the story, but she hearing Abigail laugh told her that something really amusing happened. "Did you hear that, Sylvia? Vlad apparently can game," Abigail said filling in what Sylvia had missed.

"Did he beat you?" Sylvia asked the two teenage boys.

"I let him win. It's not polite to beat old people," Thalen said with a nod.

Alex scoffed, "Right, that's why you let him win five times."

"Exactly," Thalen said as the two girls laughed.

"Hey everyone, can I have your attention?" Catalina said getting up to her feet. The teens looked at the standing woman. "Today is a very special day." The woman smiled.

"We're finally going to beat Dan?" Alex asked his tone serious.

The woman deflated, "Not quite. We just need one last component from Amity before the Ghost Gauntlets are done, so no. I'm not talking about that." The woman shook off the comment before smiling again. "It's Vlad's birthday," she said clapping her hands before darted away from view. Sylvia could hear Vlad sigh the smallest of smiles tugging at his lips. Catalina reappeared with a sheet cake and plopped it on the table. "I would have put the correct amount of candles, but I didn't want to start a fire," she said with a grin.

"Ohh, burn," Thalen added helpfully. Vlad rolled his eyes.

"Ready. One, Two, Three," Catalina counted before all the halfas busted out with the "Happy Birthday" song. Sylvia could hear Thalen singing obnoxiously off-key while Alex gave him a death glare. Abigail looked amused and even Sylvia could feel chuckles altering her tune. The halfas finished their song in laughs.

"I'm glad that singing isn't required to defeat Dan," Vlad said with a smirk.

"I think we sounded beautiful," Thalen said sarcastically. Vlad rolled his eyes again as Catalina handed out pieces of cake. Sylvia thanked the woman before digging into the pastries. After the cake was handed out, Catalina took her seat.

"Now that I can trust you all to be quiet, I will like to speak," Vlad started as the halfas ate their cake silently. "We'll be going to Amity Park tomorrow. I'll be going to Axion Labs and the rest of you will be patient and wait."

"Why are we even going at all if we just going to sit around doing nothing?" Alex asked.

"Because I don't trust you enough to leave you unattended for more than a couple of hours," Vlad answered.

"But Catalina is here," Abigail pointed out.

"My point exactly," Vlad answered. Catalina chuckled to herself. "Anyways, I also have something I want to give to each of you that I have to pick up from Axion Labs."

"It's like a reverse birthday gift," Catalina added finishing the last of her cake. "Which reminds me. I got you a gift, but I hid it in a super safe place."

"Which means you lost it," Vlad said shaking his head. "I'm sure it will show up eventually."

DP~DP~DP~

Alex tried to make himself as small as possible as Thalen propped himself forward to talk to Abigail. "Why couldn't we have just flown to Amity?" He huffed. He definitely wasn't a morning person he thought to himself as he yawned. Sylvia looked back sympathetically, her eyes looking sleepy as well.

Catalina turned around from the passenger seat to answer with a smile, "Road trips are much more fun. Besides it's only a state away." Alex glared at the energetic response and wondered how the woman could be so energetic all the time.

"And because Amity doesn't have an airport," Vlad added from the driver seat. The man looked awake and not in the bit tired.

"My family went on a road trip to Yellowstone once," Sylvia added softly. "I had a lot of fun." Alex smiled at the comment that was aimed to cheer him up.

After several long hours filled with 'I spy' and other games, Amity was finally in view. A dome of light green energy surrounded the city. The dome was produced by large poles that formed a barrier around town. Alex could see the other halfas flinch slightly as the van passed through the anti-ghost shield. Vlad glance quickly at them in what was possibly concern before turning his attention to the road.

The halfas relaxed as they noticed that the anti-ghost shield didn't affect them. Alex released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. The teen looked out of the window to watch the buildings roll by as he ignored the chattering of his fellow halfas. A large gray building loomed in the distance. The large "A" indicated clearly that it was Axion Labs.

Vlad parked the van in the parking lot and the halfas exited the vehicle. Alex stretched his stiff muscles; being in a van for five hours was really unkind to the body. "I shouldn't take longer than ten minutes. Please don't touch anything on the grounds," Vlad said before entering the lab.

Alex leaned against the van as he waited. Sylvia sat on the bumper as she pulled out her sketchbook and started drawing. Thalen and Abigail stood side by side while Abigail was pointing out how the clouds looked like one shape or another. Catalina paced in front of the group casting glances at the lab.

"He's not in any danger in there," Alex started to say when a loud eerie unearthly wail drowned out his words. The sound grated on his eardrum and Alex reflexively clamped his hands over his ears. The other halfas did the same; their facial expressions each showed the pain that their ears felt. The sound died down slowly like an echo.

"What in the world was that?" Thalen complained rubbing his ears. Alex looked to Catalina for an answer. The woman went pale as a ghost her eyes wide. "Earth to Cat," the teen said waving his hand in front of her face.

The woman blinked before looking at the former thief confused. "He asked what was that noise," Abigail said sweetly. Sylvia joined the group also looking concerned.

Catalina's brown eyes shifted from one teen to the other nervously before a tentative smile broke out. "It's just Dan, but don't worry he can't break through the ghost shield. It is absolutely top notch. No way he can break it," the woman said with a disjointed chuckle. "No way, he can get in," she whispered as if to convince herself.

Alex looked toward the sky at the green dome; it seemed to be alright , much to his relief. The loud wail began again cutting off all the halfas as they covered their ears again and looked up at the sky. The sound of a distant explosion overlapped the wail. All eyes turned to the new sound in time to watch one of the metal poles to collapse. The ghost shield shuddered before slowly fading away. Alex shuddered at the sudden thought of Dan entering the still healing city. Alex looked to Catalina waiting for some sort of order as he was unsure of what to do.

The woman looked absolutely shocked and frightened. "Catalina," Sylvia's soft voice called out her tone unsure.

The eldest halfa seemed to snap out of whatever shock she was in. "Sylvia, Alex. Stay here and make sure Vlad gets out of here safely. Abigail, Thalen you're with me. We'll give the others a distraction," the woman's voice became serious.

"But wouldn't it be better for us all to be together?" Alex asked before Catalina gave him a glare.

"And leave Vlad unprotected? That's ridiculous… We'll be back within fifteen minutes," the woman said her tone still dark.

"What if you're not?" Sylvia asked softly.

"Just listen to Vlad," Catalina said. The woman gave a tense smile, "We'll be back in no time... I promise." She put a single hand on Alex's and Sylvia's shoulders.

Alex watched as Catalina gave Abigail and Thalen a nod and all three halfas turned to their ghost halves in a brilliant flash. The three flew off; Thalen gave a cocky wave and Abigail a thumbs up.

"They're going to come back, right?" Sylvia asked her eyes watching the others flying away. Her hand brushed his before Alex took hold of it figuring the girl needed some sort of comfort.

"Of course, they are. Thalen hasn't finished his Zelda game yet and Abigail has her family to go home to," Alex said in a joking matter trying to lighten the mood. He didn't worry about the three; they were only distracting Dan and will be able to slip away. Alex just wished that Sylvia could feel the same way.

DP~DP~DP

A/N: a couple of extras for you.

Thalen closed the library door loudly causing Vlad to look up from his book. "Vlad, I need some advice," the teen said as he walked to a bookshelf to nonchalantly pull books from the shelf. The man sighed but closed the book he was reading. Thalen seeing that Vlad was listening continued. "Let's say hypothetically that someone wanted to get someone else's attention. How would you go about doing that?"

Vlad rose an eyebrow and Thalen wondered briefly if the man could read minds. "Is this about a girl?" he asked. Thalen looked at the book in his hand like it was the most interesting thing in the world. He could hear the older man chuckling before he continued, "First things first you eliminate your competition. If she likes someone, get rid of them. Then you give her all sorts of gifts. Chocolate and flowers normally work."

"And puppies," a new voice added cheerfully. Vlad and Thalen paused to see Catalina sitting on top of one of the bookshelves. She smiled before crossing her arms. "Why are you asking Vlad how to get Abigail's attention? Didn't you notice that he's still single?" Catalina asked earning a glare from Vlad and a chuckle from Thalen.

"You do have a point," Thalen admitted. Vlad grumbled to himself. "But you sure have a thing for him, so he must be doing something right," the teen said smartly. The two adult's expressions were priceless. Catalina turned a brilliant red that almost matched the scarlet that her eyes turned to and Vlad looked between disbelieving and frustrated. Thalen nodded his head proudly at his ability to unnerve both, but the pride was short-lived considering how awkwardly silent it got in the library.

The door squeaked opened providing some noise. "There you are Thalen; I've been looking all over for you," Abigail said relieved to see the boy. "Alex and Sylvia were about to start a game of Monopoly want to join."

"Destroying friendships? Count me in. See you two later," Thalen said as he walked out of the library with a chuckle. He bet it was just plain awkward in the library now. He applauded himself for being so 'evil'.

"Something funny, Thalen?" Abigail asked.

"Just a little inside joke," the former thief answered.

DP~DP~DP~

Alex checked over the paper that Sylvia had handed to him. "It seems like everything is correct. Good job."

"Thank you," the girl stuttered slightly. Alex handed Sylvia her homework back. He didn't understand why the girl started to stutter around him, but he wished she didn't. "Um Alex. I have a school dance this upcoming Friday and I was wondering if you aren't busy, if you will like the come," she said slowly getting softer with each word. Alex barely heard the last words even with his heightened hearing. Alex felt a slight blush; he wouldn't have admitted but he did find the other halfa beautiful.

The girl looked down refusing to look at him. "Yes, I'm sure Catalina and Vlad don't have any plans for us."

Sylvia looked up shocked as if she would have never dreamed that he would say yes. Alex gave her a small smile and she released a breath. "Thank you. I was afraid that I'll have to go alone. I painted the backdrop for the photobooth and had wanted to see it."

"I'm surprised that no one asked you," Alex said honestly.

"I normally don't get a lot of attention," she replied looking down at her feet.

Alex frowned, "That's a shame. You're very talented and smart." The girl smiled at the compliments which just made her look prettier in Alex's opinion. "And pretty," he said before noticing what he admitted.

"Yuck, seriously get a room," Thalen complained as he just entered the room.

"We had a room, you just came in it," Alex said narrowing his eyes at the other teen.

Thalen shrugged his shoulders, "Cat and Vlad wanted us to meet for lunch."


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Sorry for the later than expected chapter. I was having a hard time finding time and inspiration. Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Gwen tapped her foot impatiently. Her neon green eyes darted to where Robin floated. She wanted to say something to break the silence; it wasn't awkward, but Gwen knew if she tried to speak now she would end up rambling. "There he is," Robin's level voice said.

"Good, I was getting tired of waiting. You'll think that he would have gotten hungry right now. I am hungry all the time. Uh, no I'm not. I mean that's not a pretty sight. Me stuffing my face with food all the time. But I don't do that," Gwen rambled trying not to seem awkward around the older slightly attractive. "Not that I care how I look like," she added brashly.

"I need you to follow my lead," Robin said as if he ignored the entire spill.

"Me listen to you. No, I lead," Gwen said putting her hands on her hips, "I'm a better fighter than you."

Robin sighed, "Fine, I'll follow your lead." Gwen gave him a confident grin before flying toward the misery-parasitical ghost. She blasted the ghost from behind knocking the ghost to the ground. Another pair of ecto-blasts dug the ghost into a nice crater.

Gwen landed on the ground out of reach of the ghost, her hands were glowing green ready to attack.

Robin landed on the other side of the crater. "You might as well give up; there's no way you can beat us," Gwen shouted to the ghost who was slowly getting to his feet. "Just go back to the Ghost Zone where you belong."

The ghost turned to Gwen with a frown, "Where are your manners?"

"I don't need them," Gwen said before shooting two ecto-blasts at the ghost. Robin blocked a stray attack before also attacking the ghost. Sober took off from the ground and floated in front of the two halfas.

The ghost put up his hands, "I surrender."

"Just like that?" Gwen said disbelievingly. "Like I believe that," the girl said sarcastically before shooting the ghost again.

Somber blocked them and stared directly at Gwen, "You clearly out match me. Why bother?"

"Wow, you're a wimp," the girl said with a huff. "I was expecting a decent fight."

"I apologize, but I will be taking my leave now," the ghost tipped his hat before flying away.

"That was weird. I thought you always had trouble with him. He didn't seem that big of an issue," Gwen said turning human again.

"Somber normally doesn't take on a bigger threat than he can handle," Robin answered.

"We should get something to eat," Gwen said, "You know like friends. Not a date. I don't even know you and that would be really weird. Unless you aren't hungry. I can eat by myself. Not like it's going to be really lonely." The girl tried to stop her rambling, but her mouth kept running.

"Sure, why not. I'll pay," the older halfa said changing to his human form as well. "What do you want to eat?" Gwen would deny it later, but that single sentence was touching.

DP~DP~DP

Abigail tried to calm her nerves as she flew through the wreckage of Amity. The princess couldn't imagine that all this damage was done by one ghost. Her heightened caught faint cries for help. Without thinking she dove to the source of the sound.

The teenage girl focused on a large pile of rubble from which the cries were coming from. "Don't worry, I'm here to help." Abigail grabbed a piece of rubble and tossed it aside. The sound of her campions landing behind her. She looked over her shoulder. "Help me," she called out to the two halfas.

"We can't waste time," Catalina said looking up at the sky.

"When is saving people wasting time," Abigail shouted at the woman. Thalen had a smug look at clearly told the two female halfas that he agreed with the younger one. Catalina sighed turning her hands intangible before burying them into the pile.

"Why didn't you think of that?" Thalen asked with a chuckle as Catalina pulled out a small child. Abigail was slightly embarrassed that she had forgotten about her ability to turn intangible.

"Well, isn't that sweet?" a sarcastic male voice said. All three halfas faced the large full ghost that floated closer to the ground. He grinned baring his fangs. "When I was human I would have actually cared," Dan said before shooting an ecto-blast hitting the child squarely in the chest.

Abigail gaped at the cruel action before settling into a combat position. She glanced quickly at her fellow halfas who also narrowed their gaze. The teenage girl charged the ghost with ecto-plasm filled fist. Dan caught the attack easily while simultaneously blocking a volley of ecto-knives and a pair of blue ecto-blasts. Abigail could feel her core pulsate quicker in fear as she stared straight into the ghost's cold eyes. She couldn't see a scrap of humanity; the red orbs told her that the ghost wouldn't feel anything when he killed her.

As soon as the eye contact was made, the ghost broke it to toss the girl halfa into Thalen and Catalina. The two stopped her easily so they didn't tumble. Abigail floated so she was upright just in time to watch as green disks flew straight at the trio. The girl braced herself for the attack, but could only hear the sounds of solid thunks. A solid shimmering blue shield shook slightly as the green disks collided.

Abigail watched as Thalen slipped from behind the shield flying toward Dan shooting ecto-knives. The full ghost shot an ectoblast at the teen which he barely dodged. Abigail charged the ghost next shooting a couple of ectoblast which Dan avoided by turning intangible.

The full ghost retaliated by sending another two large green ectoblasts at Abigail and Thalen. Two blue shields formed in front of the teen halfas. "Don't worry I got you," Catalina said with a grin her hands were holding the shield in place. "I got your backs," the older halfa continued. The plural form confused Abigail until she looked up to see a duplicate of Catalina next to Thalen as well.

Abigail squared her shoulders as she took advantage of a pause in the attacks to try and attack Dan. The teenage girl didn't have time to react when she saw Thalen barreling toward her. The teenage boy had tried to attack Dan with a sword formed from ecto-plasm. Thalen tried his best to stop his momentum but collided with the younger halfa. Both halfas hit the ground hard.

Dan sped forward to the down halfas. Catalina dropped from the sky landing Dan roughly before the ghost turned tossing the woman onto the teen halfas who had just got to their feet. Thalen and Catalina got off of Abigail quickly for which the girl was grateful. The three watched as Dan landed on the ground putting his feet shoulder width apart before taking a deep breath.

The ghost opened his mouth to let loose sound waves of green of ectoplasm. Catalina tried to stop the attack with an ecto-shield. The barrier didn't stand a chance against the strong attack. Abigail shut her eyes at the waves hit throwing her back. The princess could feel herself being slammed through whatever structures that remained standing.

Once the dust settled, Abigail opened her heavy eyes. Her whole body ached as she tried to get to her feet. She fell back to her knees looking up to see Dan standing above her a large ball of ectoplasm in his hand.

Three green swords landed between her and the ghost. "Get away from them," Thalen's voice called out from behind Dan. The ghost turned to face the barely standing halfa. More swords formed around the pair of combatants. There were dozens of swords circling the pair forming walls ten feet high.

Abigail stared in wonder as she watched the blades revolve around the pair becoming a blur. She held her breath as she lost sight of Thalen. "That's pretty impressive," came a very tired voice. Abigail spared the bruised and cut Catalina a glance. The woman knelt beside her in human form a proud smile on her face. "But he is going to need us as soon as he's done," Catalina got to her feet pulling Abigail up as well. Abigail turned to her ghost form as one of the blades flew into Thalen's hand. The halfa raced forward past Dan sword outstretched. The full ghost dodged the tip of the blade. The sword in Thalen's hand dissipated as another flew into his empty hand. This pattern continued, Thalen would be armed by one of the floating swords to dash past Dan. Dan would dodge or if the attack was too close from landing turned intangible. The halfa was able to land a couple of hit when Dan didn't react quickly enough.

Thalen fell to his knees suddenly; his energy finally giving out. The former thief returned to his human form. Abigail darted to Thalen's side as Catalina drew the ghost's attention with a couple of ecto-blasts to the back. A green ecto-blast knocked her off course sending into a pile of rubble. The princess didn't deter; she narrowed her eyes and got to her feet slowly. Abigail flew to Thalen who laid on the ground. "That was pretty spectacular," the former thief said with a chuckle.

"It sure was," the girl responded with a smile as she picked him up from the ground. The teenage boy leaned heavily on her sore shoulder.

A loud shout of pain drew both halfas attention to see Catalina take a large ectoblast to the stomach sending her skidding on the ground. Dan turned his red gaze to the two teens before releasing a loud wail.

DP~DP~DP

Leon flew through the ruins of the city he considered his home. Having just arrived, he had no idea what had happened, but he knew Amity wasn't meant to be this broken. The halfa clenched his fists as he searched for the culprit. A loud echoing wail caused the halfa to zero in on the enemy.

Increasing his speed he came upon a scene of immense destruction. The teen took only a moment to recognize three of the beings in combat. A teenage girl was shaking a teenage boy desperately as a large ghost in a black and white hazmat suit floated closer.

Though Leon didn't care for the halfas, it was clear that this ghost was the one who destroyed his home town. The halfa hurried in his fist full of energy colliding with the ghost's face. The ghost grinned a fanged smile. Leon raised his fist undeterred by the unearthly smile.

* * *

A/N: Wow that's a little intense. Here's a couple of extras to break this rather dark mood. Hopefully part two of the fight will come soon.

* * *

Sylvia looked up at Abigail who was looking through the artist's sketchbook. "Do you miss your home?" Sylvia asked before realizing that the question could be awkward for the other girl.

Abigail's blue eyes met hers. "I do, but I know that I can't just leave others to die. Besides I'll be home before I know it."

"That's very brave of you," Sylvia said, "I wish I could take on problems like you do. You're so optimistic about everything."

Abigail shrugged before giving a wide smile, " It's easy to be optimistic. We're a great team and Dan sure can't destroy that."

Sylvia bit her lip nervously. She thought about what could happen if and when the group encountered Dan. "But what if one of us dies?"

The other girl lowered the sketchbook in her hands. She frowned clearly not knowing what to say. " I guess that's a possibility," the girl slumped her shoulders. "But Dan will sure have a hard time getting to any of us. We're more than a team, we're family." The princess gave the girl another bright smile and Sylvia gave a small one back.

…

Alex sighed frustrated at the halfa in front of him. "We're not pranking the girls," Alex said crossing his arms.

"It would be tons of fun…and mostly harmless," Thalen replied.

"Mostly?" Alex asked.

"Yup mostly. Besides after that fight with the other halfa, everyone has been so serious. A harmless prank will lighten things up," Thalen said trying to look innocent.

Alex frowned, but couldn't disagree. The girls had retreated to Abigail's room clearly distraught. Vlad had taken the unconscious Catalina to the infirmary. All the halfas seemed pretty down. "Fine, everyone does need a little pick me up. What do you have in mind?"

Thalen gave a wicked grin. "Look at what I bought at the store the other day," the halfa said opening a drawer to show off a can of silly string, an airhorn, and duct tape.

"What are going to is …"

Alex crawled behind Thalen through the tight vents. "Do you know where you're going?"

"Yes, I like climbing through the vents," Thalen answered.

"That's rather concerning," Alex replied mentally reminding himself to cover the vent in his room. Thalen slowed a little as he passed an opening . Alex passed over it looking down into the infirmary. Vlad was sitting beside a still unconscious Catalina reading a book.

"Over here, are you ready?" Thalen asked from ahead. Alex hurried his crawl to look down the grate where Thalen was. He took out his can of silly string and shook it. Thalen had his own can in his hand. With a nod, Alex sprayed the silly string on the two girl's. The blue and green material coated both girls' hair. "Retreat," Thalen shouted turning invisible and intangible. Alex followed suit as the two teenage boy flew through the walls to Thalen's room.

"Are you sure they're going to go through the door?" Alex asked pointing to the bobby-trapped door.

"Absolutely, Abigail doesn't use her powers unless she has to," Thalen answered confidently. The doorknob and the two boys covered their ears. The airhorn that was perfectly position blared loudly and the two angry teenage girls jumped.

Alex and Thalen laughed at the girl's reactions before both female halfas gave them a death glare. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all," Alex said softly backing slowly from the seething halfas.

DP~DP~DP

Thalen woke up with a loud yawn. He stretched before jumping to his feet. The halfa looked at the calendar; January 28. The date startled him; he didn't realize he had been gone so long. The halfa sighed thinking about the new years festival that must be underway. The bright lanterns and the food.

He left his room feeling a little drained. Thalen went to the kitchen and sat down quietly. Vlad who was cooking today looked over his shoulder at the halfa. The older man gave the teen a strange look before giving Catalina who was sitting on the counter a questioning one.

The woman shrugged her shoulders before launching herself off the counter to sit by the teen. "Hey, did you stay up too late again?" the woman asked her tone just as cheery as it always was.

"Yup, but I finished my game," Thalen lied. He didn't need the woman being noisy in his life.

The woman narrowed her brown eyes, but didn't push the issue. Alex and Abigail walked in next taking seats around the table as well. Thalen was in his own little world even when breakfast was served. He picked at the omelet, his appetite was completely gone. "You sick?" Alex asked.

"No," Thalen answered pushing his plate away from himself. "May I be excused?" he asked.

"Of course," Vlad answered his tone suspicious. Thalen got up from the table tossing his leftover food in the trash before putting his plate in the dishwasher. The former thief dragged his feet to the game room figuring he would try to just pass the day. He enjoyed all his games and maybe they would help him feel better. The teenage boy put in a CD and tried to play the game for a little, but it was just so boring.

After an unmeasurable amount of time, Thalen decided none of his games or movies were helping. With a tired sigh, the teen left the room. He walked down the hall, trying to figure out what to do. The halfa decided to retreat to his room.

Standing with her hands proudly on her hips was Abigail. Thalen followed the girl's gaze to what was his door. On either side of the door were red paper banners that Thalen knew were called couplets. Sensing his presence, Abigail turned startled. "Thalen, you were supposed to be distracted for a little while longer," the princess said.

"Why?" Thalen asked as the girl as she stepped in front of the door blocking the halfa.

"You can't go in yet," Abigail said spreading her arms to cover the entire doorway. Thalen rose an eyebrow before walking intangibly through the girl and the door.

The former thief paused in shock. Alex was floating in ghost form hanging up Chinese knots and pasting the "Fu" while Sylvia sat crosslegged on the floor making more "Fu". Thalen had to wonder how the halfas researched and made the decorations so quickly.

"I told Abigail to keep you out until we were done," Alex said in his annoyed tone as he landed on the ground.

Thalen crossed his arms around his chest trying to put on his cocky persona; he couldn't have the others know that he found their decorations touching. "These look okay for a couple of foreigners."

"That's a relief; I thought I did everything wrong. I'm glad you enjoy them," Sylvia said softly giving the halfa a smile.

The door to the halfa's room slammed open and Catalina bounded in. Grabbing Thalen by his wrist, she pulled the former thief away from the other two halfas. "Come on, I got to show you something," the woman said pulling the teen through the halls before going into the dining room.

The table was filled with traditional foods. Dumplings, fish, rice dumpling, spring rolls, laba congee, and New Year Cake all adorned the table. "It was a lot of work to get this all together but it was worth it," Catalina said releasing his wrist to hug the teen. The woman let go of the teen to hop to Vlad who was balancing two platters. Thalen would normally remark on the man's pink apron, but he was amazed that everyone would go through so much trouble for him. He never had anyone do anything for him.

The other three teens gathered to the table to eat dinner. Thalen looked from one to the other. A sudden thought struck him; they were his family. As much as he teased and poked at Catalina, the hyper cheery woman was the mom he never had. Vlad might be strict and prim and sometimes boring, but the man cared for Thalen and the other halfas. Alex was definitely like an older brother with his obedient attitude and grumpy mannerism, but the teen also had a good sense of humor. Sylvia was like a younger sister who Thalen liked to tease, but she was sweet and Thalen would protect her with everything he had. And lastly was Abigail, the girl was definitely special. She didn't see him negatively, she understood him even though they had pretty different lives. He knew then that he would do anything to protect them even if he had to give up his own life.

But Thalen is proud so instead of admitting anything just said, "You should have told me you were doing this. I could have make it a thousand times better."


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Hello all my lovely readers. Umm, I'm not so sure what to say here. I guess I can say that I put the extra in front of the chapter to see if I like the flow better. So please enjoy this new chapter.

* * *

Catalina sat on top of the bookshelf with her legs crossed. She flipped through the book in front of her. The woman was so entranced by the tale of adventure that she jumped when the door to the library opened.

Catalina watched as Alex walked into the library. The teen didn't notice which wasn't surprising considering that the bookshelf was taller than the teen. The woman didn't say anything, but just watched him. She grinned mischievously as she planned to pounce on the teen and hopefully startling him.

Catalina closed her book quietly and shifted to a crouch. She focused on the teen as he plopped down in one of the armchairs. The woman stiffened as she could sense the misery dripping off the teen. Catalina sighed knowing that she couldn't scare the teen at least without feeling guilty.

The woman sighed before dropping herself to the ground quietly behind the book shelf so Alex wouldn't see her; she didn't want to startle him. She walked slowly around the shelf to look at the books nonchalantly. "I'm sorry I didn't realize you were here," the woman fibbed. "I can leave if you want me to," she added.

The teen shrugged, "Whatever it doesn't bother me." Alex then returned his gaze to a book he definitely wasn't reading. Catalina floated to sit on the back of the chair.

"So I think Thalen enjoyed that little festival he planned for him," Catalina began nonchalantly.

"I guess," Alex said still not looking at the woman. Catalina pressed her lips together. She became quiet as she thought of ways to make the younger halfa speak to her. "Can I help you?" the teen asked clearly getting irritated at the woman's presence.

Catalina narrowed her eyes; she could be honest or fib. "I'm wondering the same thing," she answered, "Is everything okay?"

The teen turned to face the woman. His eyes narrowed. "There's nothing you can do," the teen said. He got up to leave. Catalina grabbed his arm; she tried to ignore the misery that seeped off of the teen. It was tempting to consume the delicious emotion, but the woman restrained herself.

"Can you at least let me try?" the woman asked. The teen sighed before sitting back down.

"Today is the day that…" the teen got quiet looking down.

"Your parents died?" the woman finished. Alex didn't look at her, but nodded. "They must have been wonderful people."

"You didn't know them. How would you know?" the teen asked his tone cold.

The woman shrugged, "Because of you. Your parents raised you and from what I've seen they did a good job. If you were my kid, I would be proud of you." She smiled at the teen. "I bet they're looking down and feel the exact same way."

"I wish they were here," Alex admitted. "I wish that everything could be the way it was before."

The woman's smile faltered; those were words she often heard herself thinking. Her wishes might as well been as hopeless as his if she actually gave her doubts time. "As do I," she whispered to herself before shaking off those doubts. The woman not knowing what else to say wrapped her arms around the teen as if she could pull together the teen's broken heart. Alex stiffened as if he was going to push her away, but didn't do it. The woman broke the embrace and the two halfas sat in silence for several minutes.

"My mom was very crafty. She was always sewing or creating something. She made my costumes every Halloween," the teen began a small smile on his face at the memory.

* * *

Leon swung his right fist while the ghost dodged. The teen halfa swung again and the ghost became intangible. Leon's fist passed through Dan as the other ghost floated through Leon sending a chill through his body. The halfa spun quickly to face the ghost who shot an ectoblast. The teen dodged just barely as Dan took the time to duplicate.

Leon looked from one to the other. The past couple of fights with the halfas were definitely helpful; Leon learned to be hyper vigilant when fighting multiple opponents. The teen dropped quickly as two beams of green ecto-energy crossed above him through his previous position. Leon swallowed that was closer than he expected. The teen spun just in time to avoid a disc of ecto energy and shooting a multitude of tiny blasts in a shotgun manner.

Dan dodged these by disappearing with a dramatic twirl of his cape. The green spheres passed through the empty air much to Leon's surprise. The teen had less than a second to be shocked before something slammed into his back hard knocking him to the ground. Leon heard something else land roughly beside him. The teen turned to see the teenage girl laying on her side not moving.

Leon clenched his fists and blasted into the air swinging at the ghost adding a couple kicks for good measure. The ghost expertly dodged them only to be stopped by a blue ecto-blast to his side. "I'll distract him. You can do more damage than I can," the woman said before darting toward the ghost performing loops and flips while shooting ecto-blasts that the ghost avoided. Leon used the distraction to land a couple of punches before Dan disappeared completely.

Catalina floated next to him as both halfas looked around nervously. They heard a loud whistling sound as a large blast of cold ectoplasm hit both. Leon flinched as the cold burn and stopping all of his movement as if he was frozen solid. The teen could feel himself falling. He glanced at the female halfa who was surrounded by blue flames that melted the ice. The woman's red eyes widened as she caught herself and Leon fell past her.

Leon struggled against the ice trying to break through it with his own attacks. The ice was chipping slowly, but he ground was coming too fast. The teen gathered energy to create a shield beneath his body to hopefully break most of the fall. A flaming blue fireball struck the ice covering the teen. The teen could feel the flames' heat before crashing into the ground.

Leon gasped in pain. He got his feet underneath him with difficulty. A hand on his shoulder sent a flurry of pain down his spine. "I'm sorry I thought I could get you out of there," the woman's voice said. Leon looked at the woman whose shoulders were slumped. The emotion was clear in her face; defeat. "Please, get them out of here."

The woman didn't need to explain; the teen nodded. "I'll buy you time. Just get them away from here," the woman repeated.

DP~DP~DP~

Catalina lowered her head grateful that she couldn't cry in her ghost form. Leon didn't say anything to her but took off. The woman clenched her jaw; she knew what she had to do. She didn't like it, but it was necessary. The halfa took a deep breath and reached out to the misery that clung to the air. The last emotions of the dead and dying were sweet in a sickening way.

"What happened to your self-righteous self-restraint?" Dan mocked floating above the woman. He only spared the teens a bored glance.

Catalina shrugged and gave a fanged smirk, "When you provide a feast, it's a little hard to resist." The woman clenched her fists as energy surged through her body. Dan disappeared in a swirl of energy. Catalina focused before also teleporting. She rematerialized between Dan and the retreating halfas.

She put a protective shield in front of her as she rematerialized stopping Dan's attack. The woman dropped the barrier to conserve energy. "You're doing them no favors, Cat," Dan said, "Their deaths are inevitable." The woman shot a blue ectoblast at the former halfa. Dan dodged as the woman expected, but it was distraction enough for the teenage halfas to turn invisible.

Catalina spun out of the way of two ice-based attacks while sending slivers of energy at Dan. The ghost dodged and Catalina gathered energy around the evil ghost to form an electrified field. Dan looked amused before squaring his shoulders and releasing a wail. The normally green sound waves were now blue, but the color didn't matter. The attack shredded through the shield and the waves crashed into the woman. Like before this attack froze the halfa woman.

Catalina melted the ice before hitting the ground as before. The woman flipped in the air to right herself before a green blast crashed into her chest sending her into the ground. She gasped as her core lurched out of control for a second. The woman caught sight of Dan with a fist of ectoplasm speeding toward her. Catalina focused teleporting herself out the way. She sent a bolt of blue lightening at the ghost who turned intangible causing the attack to pass harmlessly by.

Catalina dropped to her knees; all that excess energy from before was nowhere to be found. She pushed herself to her feet quickly only to be struck by another blast. The woman skid across the ground. As she stopped, Catalina levitated herself to a standing position. She looked at the ghost before it struck her. She couldn't get away at least not fighting the way she was. She needed to fight as if she intended to destroy the ghost. Twirling to avoid another attack, the woman picked up a metal rod off the ground. As Dan sped by, the woman shot a blast at his back. The attack missed, but that didn't matter. Catalina spun again disappearing into thin air as an ice-blue attack sped by.

She rematerialized behind Dan to impale him on the rod she had picked up. She poured as much of her electrical energy as she dared before plunging it into his unprotected back and hopefully through his core. At least, that was the plan.

Catalina stared down the rod at the gaping hole in Dan's chest. The blue sparks that danced on the metal jumped harmlessly through the hole. The woman dropped the weapon in shock as she involuntarily turned human. She dropped roughly on the ground. Dan twisted his head so it faced the woman before he turned the rest of his body. "One nice thing about being a full ghost, I can voluntarily move my core," the ghost explained before he grabbed the woman by her throat.

Catalina could do nothing but hang there; she didn't even have enough energy to turn intangible. The woman ignored the fingers tightening around her neck as she looked directly into the red eyes of Dan. She tried to find any scrap of Danny or even Plasmius, but the red eyes that bore into her own didn't held a speck of brilliant green or even dark crimson. She took a desperate gasp for air as the ghost's face twisted into a cruel fanged smile that was neither Danny nor Plasmius. Catalina could feel tears build up behind her eyes before sliding down her face. She was wrong; they were gone. Gone was the teen that would stay up all night with her talking about nothing, gone was Plasmius who was by her side as she learned about her ghost half, gone were those simple day. There was no piece of Danny or Plasmius in the ghost before her. The woman stared at those cold red eyes as her vision darkened.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Hi everyone. This took a little longer than I would have liked. I got the great idea to write a chapter for every fic I have which took a lot of time. Thank you ShadowSymbols for following and favoriting this fic. Anyways, please enjoy this chapter. The extra is in the front again.

* * *

Alex picked up the heavy blue bowling ball. He aimed very carefully before bowling it toward the pins. All the pins were blown back with a clatter. "Wow, you're very good," Abigail said clapping from her seat.

Alex shrugged not really feeling comfortable with the praise, "I used to bowl a lot with my parents."

"My parents and I always went horseback riding," Abigail said, "I wonder if we can ask Vlad to add a stable."

"I don't think it would be a good idea to be so exposed," Alex said passing Abigail who had picked a purple bowling ball. She knocked down five pins on her first try.

"I suppose you're right," Abigail said a little disappointed. "Do you think Catalina and Vlad will let me visit my family for my mother's birthday?"

"Catalina wouldn't mind, Vlad might need convincing," Alex said watching the girl picking off the rest of the pins.

"Well, I'll just do what I do with my parents. I'll ask Cat first and hope she can convince Vlad," Abigail said.

Alex smirked, "That sounds like a good idea. Remember when Catalina wanted to take all of us to the amusement park?"

Abigail laughed, " I remember. I didn't think he would give in, but Catalina just pouted until he finally gave in." Both halfas smiled at the memory.

Alex picked up his ball and prepared to bowl when the lights turn off suddenly putting the two in darkness. "You didn't slip, did you?" Abigail asked.

"No, I'm okay."

"Let me give us a little light," Abigail said before a green light appeared. The floor lit up in what appeared to be electricity. Both halfas yelped at it shocked them and disappeared. The ecto-energy in her hand disappeared.

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked once again unable to see.

"I can't use my ectoenergy," Abigail responded. Alex frowned.

"How can that happen?" Alex asked.

There was a crackling sound overhead before Vlad's voice echoed from above. "I must apologize and explain. In case of a breach, I design the facility to go into an anti-ghost lockdown. So don't use your abilities to get out."

"Just sit tight and Vlad will fix whatever it was that I touched," Catalina said with a laugh. Vlad's exasperated sigh was heard over the intercom before it turned off.

…

Sylvia sat cross-legged in the dark regretting that she had went into the training hall to practice. "It's so dark in here," Thalen said, "you can't even see your hand in front of your face."

Sylvia didn't know what to say. She was uncomfortable with the other halfa; they didn't seem to have anything in common. "You don't talk much, do you?" Thalen asked.

Sylvia shook her head before remembering that it was completely dark. "No I don't."

"Well, we might be here for a long time so you're going to have to," Thalen said arrogantly. Sylvia didn't answer. "Fine how about you tell me why you don't talk much."

"I just don't like to talk," Sylvia said.

"I don't think that's true," Thalen said, "You talk with Alex and Abigail."

"The truth is… I don't see the point in talking. I mean no one listens to me. Everyone is always looking at my brothers. Wow, look Brad is so good at soccer. Matt is an amazing quarterback. I just get looked over," Sylvia said as soon as she started she couldn't stop talking.

"That's a shame. You're pretty good at drawing and painting," Thalen said.

"Thanks, you're pretty good at parkour. It pretty impressive," Sylvia admitted, "I think even with ghost powers I would be a little scared."

"Maybe I can teach you sometime. It could come in handy in a fight or it could be a way to be noticed," Thalen suggested. "And maybe you can teach me to draw."

"I think I'll like that. You're not that bad of a guy," Sylvia admitted.

"Don't go around telling people that or I'll take back those lessons."

* * *

Leon pulled at both of the barely conscious halfas through the streets. They mumbled something to him but the halfa didn't listen. Leon looked over his shoulder briefly to see if the trio was being followed. There was no sign of Dan which was a relief.

Leon looked for a place to lie low for a while. He had learned that when running away sometimes the best course of action was to hide and wait to recover. After the beating that all three experience, it would be in their best interest to heal from their wounds. Finding an abandon warehouse that seemed to fit his checklist, Leon staggered into the warehouse. He dropped the two halfas unceremoniously onto the ground before he lowered himself to the ground.

The ghost he had just fought was stronger than any other that Leon met before and he met quite a bit. "You shouldn't have left her," an angry voice said.

Leon looked at the speaker bored. The male halfa sat up clenching his fist, but Leon didn't feel threatened; the other halfa looked as though a stiff wind could knock him over. "Would it have better for all of us to die together?"

The other halfa snarled before being stopped by the female halfa. "I'm sure Catalina is fine. I know she is. She's a fighter," the girl said giving the other a small, hopeful smile.

"pft, I doubt it. I'm sure the ghost killed her by now. And if you believe otherwise, you're just as stupid and naïve as she was," Leon said bluntly watching as the girl curled into herself.

Leon shifted slightly as a rock was thrown his way. "Don't you dare talk to Abigail like that," the other halfa said anger clear in his body language.

"I can say whatever I want. It's a free country after all," Leon responded feeling angrier.

"Thalen, it's okay. We'll go looking for her once we get some rest," Abigail said before laying down.

Thalen narrowed his eyes at Leon, but also decided to rest his head for a moment.

Leon sat still. Even though he was tired, he wasn't about to be caught off guard. The halfa stood watch for two hours before a stream of blue exited his mouth. Leon recognize the energy signature of the ghost. Not wanting another confrontation with the ghost, he shook the other two awake. "Wake up, now," he hissed.

Both halfas opened their eyes. "He's coming," Leon said in a means of explanation. The other two didn't need any more words. They both got to their feet as ectoblasts tore through the walls. The three spared a single glance before running away from the attacks.

Leon watched as Thalen took the lead being the fastest of the three. The ectoblasts continued following them. The three halfas dodged the best they could as they continued through the ruins. All of a sudden a natural ghost portal formed in the next building. "Let's go through," Thalen said. Leon agreed that the portal would be an escape from Dan, but where in the Ghost Zone would they end up. A shot above his head changed that thought and he dove into portal.

"Close it," a female voice he knew so well ordered. Leon turned to face a tall female ghost. Her fiery purple hair poked out of her helmet.

"Pandora," Leon greeted with relief.

"It's good to see you, Leon," the woman said pulling the halfa into a hug, "I was worried that Dan had killed you. So I asked Wulf to make me a portal." Pandora released Leon so the halfa could see this 'Wulf'. The other ghost was very much like his name and was a large green wolf. "Thank you, my friend," Pandora said to the ghost.

Wulf replied in an unknown language before he flew away. "Excuse me, who are you?" Thalen asked. Pandora turned to face the other two halfas.

"My name is Pandora and you are?"

"I'm Thalen and this is Abigail," Thalen answered.

Pandora looked at all three halfas, "You are all injured."

"We fought Dan," Leon answered.

Pandora gave a worried look to all three, "I will like to extend a welcome to my lair. You can heal there."

DP~DP~DP~DP

Sylvia could feel her heart sinking as time passed by. "Where's the others?" Vlad asked as he came to the van. He held two boxes in his hand.

"They went to fight Dan," Alex answered from his position on top of the van not bothering to look at Vlad.

Sylvia watched as the man's face became distress for the briefest of moments before settling into it's usual poker face. "How much time did she say to give her?"

Sylvia responded with how much time remained quickly, seeing as how she was counting down the time nervously. Vlad frowned, but didn't comment. The three remained silent looking out to where the other three halfas had left. Sylvia wished that someone would say something, anything that could be comforting. She bit her bottom lip nervously.

"Time's up," Vlad announced, his tone unreadable. "We need to leave."

"But we can't leave them," Sylvia said grabbing the man's elbow as he opened the van's door.

"Catalina told you to listen to me, correct?" Vlad asked. Sylvia and Alex nodded in answer. "Then get in the van."

Sylvia looked to Alex who turned away to the passenger seat. Vlad sent the teen a glare but didn't comment. Sylvia took the seat behind Vlad looking down at her hands as they pealed out. The teenage girl didn't know what to say to either halfa, but could feel tears forming in the back of her eyes. They were all dead; she was certain. Sylvia wiped away the tears that started to fall.

"In the second box, there are a several watches. Pick whichever you like," Vlad said as he sped out of town.

"You took that long for watches," Alex said harshly.

"They will mask your energy signature. Dan will have a harder time finding you," Vlad explained. Alex taking the answer picked out a dark blue, almost black, watch before handing the box to Sylvia. Sylvia picked out a teal watch before looking back up to the two in front. Alex was looking out the window as if trying to avoid making eye contact with the other two passengers. Vlad was staring straight ahead at the road.

Sylvia looked down at her hands wishing that the van was filled with the noise that was there before.

DP~DP~DP~

Vlad didn't know what to feel. On one hand, he wanted to believe that the three will make their way back, but his logical mind knew the most probable result. The billionaire didn't think he would have felt this sorrow, but the halfas became a family to him. He glanced at the passenger seat where Alex sat. He knew he should say something to comfort the two teens, but he wasn't one to give false hope.

When Vlad parked the car, there was no idle chatter. All three halfas exited and went into their separate rooms. Vlad made the journey to his private study before rubbing a hand down his face. A brightly colored package drew his attention. His first reaction was to be upset at Catalina; she wasn't allowed into his private study. But then the man remembered that the woman wasn't coming and the frustration dissipated. Vlad got to his feet and grabbed the present. He looked it over before tearing the wrappings. In his hands was a framed picture. In the image was all the halfas, him included, all smiling. Vlad recognized the image; it was during the little festival that they had prepared for Thalen.

Catalina had put one arm around his neck as she tried to direct his attention to the camera. Thalen was standing confidently with Abigail waving beside him. Sylvia and Alex sat the closest looking up from their paper lanterns to smile for the camera. Vlad swallowed his emotions roughly. His fingertips brushed what felt to be an envelope that was taped to the back.

He removed the envelope resting the fame on his lap as he opened the letter addressed to him. Catalina's simple print was on the page. _"Happy Birthday, Fruitloop. :P Here's a small gift for you. Sorry it's not exactly the family that you had in mind, but we each care a lot for you. –Sincerely, Catalina._

DP~DP~

Robin looked at the girl who flew beside him. "So there's more halfas?" the girl asked.

"Yes, they seemed to be okay," Robin replied.

"And they're trying to kill that ghost that is causing all sorts of problems, right?"

"I think stop is a better explanation than kill," Robin answered, "They offered to house me and even train me. I figured that now that Somber isn't a problem I can actually take up their offer."

"And don't mind if I crash their party?" Gwen asked.

"I'm positive they will welcome you with open arms," Robin replied before diving to the ground where Catalina had told him their hideout was.

"Wow, this is a dump," Gwen remarked brashly.

"The majority of the facility is underground," Robin replied before entering the elevator with Gwen.

The elevator stopped and the two exited the elevator. Gwen tripped, but Robin caught her easily.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home," Gwen remarked.

Robin had to agree. "Hello, it's me Robin," the halfa called out. Gwen gave him a look that read as a sarcastic _that-was-helpful_. A door opened down the hall and a teenage boy walked out. If Robin remembered correctly, his name was Alex.

The teen looked upset about something, but Robin had no idea what. "I thought there was more of you," Gwen said looking the other teen over.

Alex looked away for a moment pausing to think. "They are not here right now. If you wait in the kitchen, I'll get Vlad over here," the teen said. Robin agreed and pulled Gwen over to the designated room.

"I thought you said they were fun," Gwen said pouting.

"There's something wrong," Robin replied.

"I hope I didn't offend him. Of course, I had to open my big mouth," the girl berated herself. Robin looked at the girl bewildered. She could be so harsh, but then flip a switch to become caring.

"I'm sure it's nothing serious," the teenage boy said trying to reassure her.


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Hi everyone. I'm not dead. I was just feeling a little discouraged and busy. So I'm sorry for taking so long. I don't know if any of you are still reading, but I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Alex sat with his arms crossed as he tried to ignore the two new halfas that joined the group. Robin was fine, but Gwen just grated against his nerves. "You all need to stop moping; Dan isn't going to stop just because you are sad." The teenage girl said putting her feet on the table. Vlad sent a half-hearted glare, but didn't say anything. The girl continued to keep her feet on the table.

"Gwen," Robin whispered to the girl. His eyes darted around the table seeing the grief in the others. Gwen gave the older halfa a pout, but quieted down. Robin looked away from the girl to the rest of the group. "Though I have to agree with Gwen. For the past couple of days all of you have been doing nothing to prepare to take down Dan. I apologize for my bluntness, but it is true."

Alex grinded his teeth to keep from reacting. He wasn't one to shout, but to just gloss over the death of Thalen, Abigail, and Catalina was too cold in his opinion."People need time to grieve," Sylvia said her tone blunt. Alex took a moment to be proud of the girl for speaking up for the three of them. Her normal shyness seemed to melt away for just a second.

"Well, you don't exactly have time for that. How long is it going to take for Dan to come barging in her and kill the rest of us," Gwen said crossing her arms. "We can always just wait around."

Alex was about to retort when Vlad spoke up, "You have a point, Gwen. It is a possibility that Dan could find us." Alex deflated looking to the billionaire who was deep in thought. The teen wondered how big that possibility.

"What are we going to do?" Sylvia asked quietly. Her eyes turned down to the table.

"We're taking the kid gloves off now. We'll increase your training regimen. We'll focus on aerial combat and harnessing your core energy," Vlad stated sure his shoulders set. "The next confrontation with Dan will be the last." Alex heard the surety in his voice and hoped that the man was right, but his pessimism twisted the words to predict more death. Alex just wished that it was the first meaning.

DP~DP~DP

Thalen glared at the halfa that he grew to know was named Leon. He crossed his legs into the seat he was in. He wished that his death glare could actually kill; how could Leon have left Catalina. He must not know anything of loyalty or maybe the other halfa didn't have a heart. If Thalen had been more conscious, he would have stayed. He wouldn't have thought that he would miss the woman so much. "Are you still thinking about Catalina?" Abigail asked softly as she floated to him.

He looked at the girl before putting on a fake cocky air. "No, I'm just thinking that it's boring here," he said with a huff. He couldn't let the teenage girl how he was feeling.

"I miss her too," Abigail said softly; her eyes turned downward. Thalen grumbled that the girl saw through the act though he was grateful that she felt the same as well.

"I'm sorry that we didn't tear to the real world faster," Pandora said. The ghost looked truly regretful. Thalen glared at the ghost. She had an ancient wizened demeanor which made it hard for the former thief to hate her even though Thalen really wanted to. It was easier to be mad and blame someone then facing the reality. She knelt to make their heights even. "I, too, have lost friends to Dan," the Greek ghost said. Thalen could see the sadness in her eyes.

Thalen clenched his fists. He knew that Catalina had thought that Dan could be saved, but the teen seriously doubted it. He wanted to believe it too just because of her optimism and exuberance. He had wanted to prove her right, but she was gone. "He's been here too?" Abigail asked responding to the ghost and drawing Thalen's attention.

"He was using the manufactured portals to travel back and forth as he saw fit. He attacked his former enemies first before turning his attention to the Human World and his home town. It is rather sad to see what he has become. He was once a hero for the humans in Amity and now," the woman shook her head. "I don't understand how he could change so effectively."

"Not all people can handle grief," Leon said speaking up for the first time. "It's like they say: Misery loves company."

"That is very true, Leon. Perhaps we all saw him above that," Pandora said continuing. "The ghosts that have survived his onslaught have dropped all past grievances and have now banded together to end his existence. This resistance may not be made of the strongest ghosts around but our numbers can't be matched."

"Isn't there a way to save him? Instead of destroying him?" Abigail asked her tone almost pleading, "Catalina was talking about how if we separate Plasmius and Phantom than everything could go back to the way it was before." She looked at the ancient ghost hopefully.

Pandora looked like she was thinking about the idea like it was possible. This gave Thalen a bit of hope that perhaps the halfas could at least fulfill Catalina's wish in her memory. "Are you going to take her advice? Last time I checked Dan killed her," Leon said coldly.

"That's it. I've had enough of you," Thalen shouted as he launched himself at the other halfa. He was stopped by one of Pandora's arms.

"We are not going anywhere if we fight amongst ourselves," Pandora said calmly. "Some of the resistance is meeting here. And we can decide what to do from there. Perhaps we can do as you have suggested. Danny gave so many a second chance; we should be able to do so as well."


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Hi everyone. Thanks for the reviews. I really do like to read them all. And I love all of you. Anyways, here is a new chapter. I hope you enjoy. Oh I wrote a little flashback/extra for you.

* * *

Dan had let the teens escape. They didn't matter for the moment; his goal stood in front of him defiantly. The shorter woman stood with shoulders square as the faint wisps of misery surrounded her. Dan smirked at the woman's futile resistance. The two fought but he was able to subdue her easily enough. She had thought that she could destroy him, but she clearly didn't understand his power. He saw the way her brown eyes looked at him; a mixture of hope and fear. That small hope irritated him for some reason. She thought he would just go back to the way things were before and that was impossible. He killed his human half and he never felt more free. He wouldn't go back to the trappings of his past.

Dan had grabbed the woman's slender throat. He could feel her pulse quicken beneath his fingers. She was staring directly in his eyes as if searching for something. He could hear the slight murmuring of 'Danny' that fell from her lips. He could feel warm tears fall onto his gloves as her hands tried to pry his away. He wasn't a ghost that fed on misery but he did feel some satisfaction at the strangled sobs. He tightened his grasp slightly and her hands slipped from his gloves as her eyes rolled back.

With a smirk, Dan broke the woman's neck with a quick twist. He dropped her unceremoniously. He turned to the direction that the teens had run to. They wouldn't get far.

* * *

Abigail understood why Thalen and her were separated or at least she told herself that. It was in the best interest of the resistance and it would help them become stronger. She tugged at her clothing although the area around her was frosty, she didn't feel the chill. "Miss Abigail, is everything okay?" the deep rumbling voice of the ghost in front of her asked. She shook her head to clear any distracting thoughts.

Abigail looked up at the large abominable snowman ghost. The giant ghost was really friendly so Abigail didn't want to trouble him. "Everything is fine. Thanks for asking, Frostbite," Abigail answered with a smile.

"You are thinking about the other halfa? Thalen, correct?" Frostbite asked.

Abigail could feel her face turn red. "Well, I little bit. We are like family that's all," Abigail said. She tightened her ponytail.

"Of course. You should get some rest. We can visit him tomorrow," Frostbite said kindly.

"Are you sure? I thought we were supposed to continue training and we didn't have time for pleasantries?" Abigail asked.

" We have been training for the past month; one day wouldn't end the world. Besides, It is good to relax every now and again," Frostbite said, "We'll leave early tomorrow."

Abigail smiled before asking, "Is there a way for us to get a message to the human world? I'll like to tell my parents that I'm okay."

Frostbite became serious, "I can have Pandora hunt down Wulf again, but I can't make any promises." Abigail told herself that she understood, but there were days when she just wanted to get away from all the fighting; there were days when she just wanted to be with her family.

DP~DP~DP~

Sylvia walked out of her house going to the corner of the backyard where no one would see her. Looking around quickly for anybody and not seeing any, she changed into her ghost half. The young artist pushed off the ground and into the sky.

There was always something relaxing about flying especially at night. She looked up to the dark expanse above her; the moon was nowhere in sight, only the stars gave off light.

She thought back to the past month. It was surely taxing on all the halfas. Even Vlad seemed drained, but everyone was so determined. Maybe it was a need for revenge or the need to protect people that drove the others. Sylvia wondered why she still train and prepared with them. She didn't think she would be good in a fight and after they disappeared, she would be lying if she said that she wasn't afraid.

A bright light drew Sylvia's attention. She stop to hover as she zeroed in on the warm yellow light. Her core seemed to freeze as she realized what she was seeing. The warm haze of fire burned in the horizon. "Jasper," she whispered to herself remembering that her brother was supposed to be playing a game at the local stadium.

Sylvia debated with herself with only for a moment before she flew toward the city determine to be there for her brother. The ghost girl flew closer and closer when her ghost sense went off. The blue stream of air flew upwards and Sylvia stopped spinning looking for the source of the energy that she sensed.

A bright green ecto-blast struck her in her shoulder, the force of it knocking her to the ground. The girl got to her feet quickly barely missing another blast. "Wh-where are you?" she called out to the dark feeling nervous at the silence. Concentrating, she made a duplicate. She looked at herself which always felt strange and the two separated.

Sylvia waited for another blast as she ran to a dark alley. Gathering her energy she began to perform a trick that Vlad and her had created. Her ecto-energy leaked into her surroundings and 'painted' it to appear empty. She held her breath as she knew the ghost that attacked her was searching for her.

The artist could feel when her duplicate was destroyed and she had to calm herself to keep up her illusion. She reminded herself that Alex and Vlad assured her that she was basically invisible like this to both ghosts and humans. She was safe and the ghost wouldn't find her.

DP~DP~DP

Abigail had woke up early the next day. She was excited to see Thalen. It would be nice to talk to someone who could understand her. As nice as the Far Frozen ghosts were, they were definitely not human. They couldn't talk about simple things, but they did have nice feasts. "Are you ready to go?" Frostbite's voice asked from the entrance of her temporary room.

"Yes, thank you for letting me go see him," Abigail said as she brushed through her long hair. The ghost girl floated out of the cavern that served as a bedroom. Several of the white beast-like ghost waved as the two walked past. Frostbite led the way to the 'launch pad'. The patch of ice was heavy guarded and was the only spot on the island that didn't have a wall of ice. Abigail didn't care for the long walk to leave the Far Frozen, but she understood that it was to protect the citizens of the Far Frozen and well as other ghosts that asked for asylum.

"Don't fall behind, Abigail," Frostbite said over his shoulder causing Abigail to pick up her pace. "I'll be guiding you to Thalen's location once we take off," Frostbite said looking up at the green sky of the Ghost Zone.

Abigail was grateful that Frostbite was willing to go with her. While many ghosts feared Dan, there were still some that didn't agree with the Resistance. Some would hand over the halfas to Dan as a payment for protection. "Stay close to me. Thalen is staying at Prince Aragon's castle, so the trip will take a couple of hours." Frostbite explained as he flew off of the Far Frozen. Abigail followed right after flying after the larger ghost.

They were barely out of sight of the glowing Far Frozen when Abigail's ghost sense went off. The halfa knew that this wasn't good; after spending time with the ghost of the Far Frozen, they had stopped setting off her ghost sense.

"There you are," Dan's baritone voice said pleased. "I've been waiting for you to leave that ice cube for a long time."


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Hi everyone. I'll just get to the chapter.

* * *

Alex patted Sylvia's back as she started to hyperventilate. "So did you even see the ghost?" Gwen asked, "Or was it just a part of your imagination?" The girl was looking at the artist with a bored look. Alex narrowed his eyes at the female halfa, but Gwen didn't seem to notice. Sylvia's breathing slowed to a normal artist seemed to calm down enough to straighten her posture looking at everyone at the table. Vlad sat at the head looking interested in what she had to say, Gwen gave her a look of disbelief, and Robin looked worried.

Sylvia took a deep breath before starting to speak again, "Yes, I didn't see them but my ghost sense went off and my duplicate was destroyed."

Vlad took this moment to get to his feet, "Whoever attacked you could be any number of ghosts. Your attacker might not be Dan, but it would be safer to assume that it was. In that case, the safest course of action would be to move location. If whoever attack you is Dan, I don't want him to know where we are holed up." He looked down at the sitting teens waiting for a response.

"Are we going to one of your summer houses or whatever it is that you rich people have?" Gwen asked taking her feet off of the table sitting up in anticipation.

"What about Sylvia? Her family would be looking for her," Robin also added at the same time. Sylvia nodded looking at Vlad expectantly. Alex agreed but didn't say anything.

"I can send in a false acceptance letter to a boarding school. Her parents wouldn't suspect a thing," Vlad answered as if it was simple.

"You mean lie to my parents?" Sylvia asked, "But I've never told this big of a lie to them."

"You can always stay here, but the rest of us will be leaving," Vlad responded. "Make your decision quickly. The rest of you pack your things. Only one bag each. Whatever you need, I'll buy when we get to my summer house."

Gwen gave a mock salute before standing up and walking out of the room with Robin who remained silent.

DP~DP~DP

Abigail froze for a moment under Dan's red gaze. Frostbite floated in front of her. His large body completely cover her. "Ghost child, cease in this foolishness. Remember who you were," Frostbite chided.

Dan crossed his arms round his broad chest covering his emblem. Abigail's heart sunk at the disappearance of the symbol of the teen superhero. She wondered briefly if Catalina felt the same loss of hope when she faced down Dan. The teen blinked back the tears that couldn't form when she was ghost. The halfa couldn't afford to get distracted. "Abigail, I must apologize. I was unable to protect you," Frostbite said. The large beast's voice was laden with guilt.

Abigail knew what the ghost was saying. Although he would do his best to protect her in the upcoming fight, there was nothing he could do to stop Dan from ending her. The girl could feel her throat tighten as a sob threaten to escape. She wouldn't get to see her family, Thalen, or anyone else. "You did the best you could, Frostbite," she choked out.

Dan chuckled darkly, "You are so sentimental. You know what Cat- excuse me, you didn't call her that did you- Catalina said to me as I watched the life drain from her eyes?" He grinned a fanged smile.

"Abigail ignore him," Frostbite said forming an iceball in his paw that flew toward the former halfa. Dan dodged the attack, letting it buzz right past his head without flinching.

"You killed her?" Abigail asked looking into his cold red eyes. Dan smirked as he dodged another attack.

"I just said that I did," Dan answered dodging a punch from Frostbite. The yeti like ghost was blasted back by a green attack from Dan. Abigail was jerked into awareness at Frostbite's shout. Dan was shooting ray after ray at Frostbite who tried to retaliate. The yeti hit him once freezing Dan.

"Get away now, Abigail. Warn Thalen and Leon," Frostbite shouted over his shoulder. Abigail nodded her understanding and jetting away from the fight. She didn't dare look back. Her heart was in her throat and she wanted to scream out her frustration with the world. She shut her eyes as she flew as fast as she could. She knew Frostbite wanted her to warn Thalen and Leon but she couldn't just go to their location; Dan could be following her. The purple doors blurred by as she tried to figure out where to go before she slammed into another body.

Abigail looked at the ghost she bumped into. He was a deathly pale gray with thick glasses. He looked familiar for a reason, but Abigail was positive she hadn't met him before. She just figured how to get her message to the other halfas. "You know Pandora?" she asked the scrawny ghost, her words tumbled quickly.

"Yes, there isn't any ghost that doesn't know her with Dan running around," the ghost said.

"Tell her that the halfas can't stay anymore," Abigail said quickly before leaving a very confused ghost behind. Abigail hoped that Pandora could move Thalen and Leon away before Dan caught up with them.

Abigail felt a burning pain between her shoulder blades as she tumbled forward. Her vision spun as she tumbled. She straightened her flight holding out her arms. She looked up to see a white D with a small black P. Abigail shot an ectoblast straight at the symbol as the ghost disappeared with a swirl of green energy.

Abigail spun around putting up a glowing dome around her as she looked for Dan. She felt like a mouse in a trap as a blast hit her glowing shield. She flinched back as the blast shook her shield. The teen focused to create a duplicate. Her mirror image looked back at her before the original dropped her shield. Dan looked amused that the new turn of events. Abigail knew her duplicate had her back and she went on the offensive.

She shot disks of energy around the former halfa. Dan watched them zoom by his fanged smile grew larger. Abigail knew not to let the other ghost to discourage her or distract her. She gathered her courage and flew directly at the former superhero hoping to startle him.

It work well enough her fists slammed in the center of the DP symbol. Abigail could almost cheer in excitement at her success. Her duplicate shot two ice blasts at the off-balanced Dan Phantom. The ghost froze in a large block of ice.

Abigail smirked as she bought herself more time to escape. She turned to face Dan holding her duplicate by her throat. The teen barely had time to contemplate how strange it was to watch yourself die before her duplicate dissipated.

She backed away intending to speed away as a thick arm wrapped itself around her throat from behind. She looked over her shoulder to see red eyes. "Are you going to beg me to spare you?" Dan asked his voice a whisper in her ear.

Abigail saw herself as a brave person, but all of that courage was sapped. "P-please. I just want to see my family. Don't you remember your family? You loved them," she said to her captor trying to remind him of his humanity.

A cold hand was pushed behind her back. The energy that slipped through her skin was doing strange things with her core. "Pl-please. I won't fight you. Just let me go," Abigail begged as her core heated and cooled uncomfortably. She was gasping as if she needed air. "Please Danny. We were friends."

Dan made a hmph before his hand went ice cold and Abigail's core froze. The teen could feel ice burn through her body before everything went black.


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Hi everyone, I'm sure that you all want to kill me. I suppose I should apologize for killing off one of the young halfas, but as I stated in the very beginning, these characters won't necessarily come out of the fic as they came in. As sad as this is, if you know what the title is based off of, you would have expected what would happen. But nevertheless, I want to say I'm sorry. I'm a little bloodthirsty when I write. Seeing that I might have broken your hearts, I'm reopening suggestions for extras. These can involve any characters/ themes and would be considered 'non-canon' to the story.

* * *

Leon stood beside Pandora as the ghost he knew as Pointdexter spoke quickly. The halfa could barely understand the nerdy ghost's rambling. From Pandora's expression, Leon could tell that the ghost was making some sort of sense.

"Are you completely positive that it was the female halfa that spoke to you?" Pandora asked. Leon knew her well enough to know that tone of voice; it wasn't doubtful, but it was hopeful that there was some sort of mistake.

The pale ghost looked down to the floor, pushing up his glasses. "I'm sure. She matched your description." Leon knew that expression he saw it so many times the past month. It was always the same story; Dan would snuff out whatever stood in his way.

Leon didn't know the girl well, but it was still enough to make him clench his fist angry at the very ghost that took her life. "Leon, can you tell Thalen that we have to move on?" Pandora asked looking over her shoulder to look at the halfa with sad eyes.

Leon really didn't want to take this task; he knew the other halfa didn't care for him and this news would send him over the edge. He only have to look at Pandora's eyes to give into her suggestion. "I'll be sure to break it to him," Leon responded with a fake irritated tone. Pandora gave him a small smile and that made whatever Thalen worth it; not that he would ever tell anyone.

"And Leon, tell Thalen to be ready to move," she added as Leon turned to find the other halfa in the maze of hallways.

"I'm sure he would be ecstatic to hear that," Leon replied sarcastically but continued to look for the other teen. Leon knew that the other halfa was likely to be throwing himself into training, but there was plenty of places in the castle to do such. Leon looked in the armory. There were a handful of medieval ghosts floating around, but the halfa wasn't anywhere to be seen. The halfa wasn't one to ask for help so he ignored the questioning looks from the ghosts and left them to their tasks.

Leon heard a door slam from the far end of the hallway. The teen smirked knowing only one person who would be so reckless in the castle. He hurried his steps to get to the source of the sound before the other halfa got away. Leon caught a glimpse of the other halfa as he turned the corner. "Thalen," he called out not feeling up to chasing the other around the castle.

Thalen poked his head back around making cautious steps to Leon. The former thief crossed his arms around his chest narrowing his neon eyes suspiciously. "What do you want?"

Leon thought of his next words for only a moment before speaking bluntly. "Dan found Abigail," he started. These were the only words he got out before the other teen grabbed his white trench coat.

"Where is she?" Thalen growled. Leon pushed the other teen away.

"Dan killed her and Frostbite," Leon answered. The other teen looked stunned; his face frozen as emotions flashed through his eyes.

"You were supposed to keep her safe. You promised that she would be protected," the thief yelled his fists clenched knuckles white. Leon felt slightly guilty but he didn't let it show. Leon barely caught Thalen's fist as it flew to his face. "This is all your fault," the teen shouted as Leon tossed him aside.

Thalen wasn't one to back down and charged again. Leon side-stepped and returned the his fists slamming into the other's shoulder. Thalen quickly regained his stance putting his fist up. "So is that how you want to play?" Thalen asked.

Leon smirked putting his own fists up, "Don't think that I'll let you beat on me just because you're upset." He gathered ecto-energy into his fists. Thalen may be quick, but Leon kept out of the combination of punches he threw his way. He waited until the angered halfa over extended himself before he retaliated. His glowing fists landed on the other halfa's stomach and chest knocking the wind out of him.

Thalen stumbled holding onto his stomach glaring at Leon. The runaway shot two ecto-blasts on either side of the former thief's head. Thalen gritted his teeth and turned to walk away. He mumbled something under his breath that sounded slightly like 'heartless monster'. Leon couldn't let that slight past with a growl he pinned the other halfa against the nearest stone wall.

"What's your problem?" Thalen asked, "I'm done fighting you." The runaway narrowed his eyes angrily at the dismissive tone of voice.

"Don't think for a minute that you had it hard. It's one thing to never know your parents. I knew mine and they left me," Leon snarled. Thalen had the sense to look away. Leon dropped the other halfa to the ground.

The two were quiet for several seconds. Thalen finally broke the silence, "What happened to them?"

Leon turned his green eyes to the halfa who looked away disinterested. "My mom died when I was young. My dad couldn't take care of me, so I went to an orphanage." He narrowed his eyes at the white-haired halfa. "I don't need your pity," he said roughly.

Thalen scoffed, "Whatever, you have your dad still. I'm getting my stuff. I'm not staying here anymore." Thalen stomped away his head bent down. Leon watched the clearly depressed and frustrated halfa walk away.

"Thalen," Leon called out to the retreating teen. Thalen turned around to look at him bored, but Leon knew that the collected appearance was a façade. "I am truly sorry for your loss. Abigail was growing on me too," Leon responded with more honesty than he ever gave another human. The young female halfa would be missed; she was a kind and bright light in a time of darkness, but Leon wouldn't ever voice that much of his feelings.

Thalen stared at the runaway unsurety was dripping off his body language. "Yeah, she was great like that. She didn't have a mean bone in her body."


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Hello again, I hope you are all doing well. I want to give you something special to say thank you for reading (even if I broke your hearts) in the spirit of Thanksgiving. So here's a hopefully cute extra for this chapter.

* * *

Thalen never had a Thanksgiving dinner or at least not that he remembered. He sat at the dinning table watching the flurry of activity in the kitchen.

"Catalina please exercise more caution," Vlad said looking up from the casserole he was making to stare down the woman who was struggling with the large bird.

"I'm being careful," Catalina said tugging at the wings trying to lift it. "Its so slimy," she said crinkling her nose. "Oh look at what I can do," she said releasing her hold on the bird. It landed with a loud thud into the sink.

"Catalina," Vlad warned bracing himself as the bird started to glow blue. The woman laughed manically as the bird lifted out of the sink and floated toward the billionaire.

"See, I have this under control," the woman said proudly dropping the bird into the pan. She gave Vlad a cheeky grin before picking up the pan and placing it in the oven.

Thalen laughed at Vlad's unamused look as he handed Catalina a mixing bowl. "Thalen, it would be awhile until dinner is ready. If you like to you can train," Vlad said turning to the teen as Catalina also turned to him.

The teen grinned putting his hands up, "Okay, I got the hint. You want some _alone_ time." The former thief chuckled as Catalina turned red and even Vlad looked uncomfortable.

The door opened breaking the awkward tension in the air. "Thalen, we have been looking all over for you," Alex's voice said looking at the trio. "Did I interrupt something?"

...

The table was filled with amiable conversation. Abigail was speaking animatedly to Gwen who was responding awkwardly back. Leon and Thalen were glaring at each other. Alex and Robin were sharing a couple of words quietly. Vlad normally spent this holiday alone, so the sounds of others eating and talking was strange. It was a good strange though. He smiled to himself though he put his poker face back when he saw the know-it-all smirk on Catalina's face.

"There's a Packers game tonight if any one wants to watch it with us," Catalina said as everyone pushed away their plates. Vlad refrained from saying that the woman had just invited herself and the others to his private viewing room.

"Sounds okay with me," Alex stated and Vlad soon found himself surrounded by the halfas in his small viewing theater. Catalina was pressed against his side as all of the halfas tried to fit on the sectional. The billionaire soon forgot about the uncomfortable situation when the game started.

The game was enjoyable. It was more so than normal when he was surrounded by cheers when the Packers scored..(or a boo from Thalen). The former thief took it upon himself to root for the opposing team, making sure to cheer loudly when they scored. Catalina didn't seem to understand the game and cheered whenever a player was tackled.

Vlad smiled once again concealed in the shadows of the room. This would go down as one of his favorite Thanksgivings.

A/N: a totally AU extra but somewhat cute.

* * *

Alex hefted the two bags in his hands. He squinted against the harsh sun. After spending so much time in the underground lair, his eyes had become very sensitive against light. "Alex, you don't have to carry my things if it is too heavy for you," Sylvia said.

Gwen chuckled as she walked past with her own bag. "Yeah, I mean I can take it off of your hands," Gwen said in her brash manner.

"I am fine," Alex responded coldly to the little dig. Gwen shrugged and picked up her pace to catch up with Robin who was walking beside Vlad.

The billionaire and halfa barely acknowledged the girl as she raced past them and climb the stairs to the halfa's new base of operations.

The white building was large hidden in a large garden. Alex wondered how much money the billionaire had to purchase such real estate.

The halfas entered the building. All of the teens looked over the expensive architecture. "You may choose any of the bedrooms. I only ask that you leave the Master suite to me," Vlad said as he walked past all of the teens. In his hands was the Ghost Gauntlets which he held tightly.

Alex shrugged, but climbed the gaudy spiral staircase. Sylvia followed behind quietly. Alex picked the room closest to the stairs dropping both cases to the floor. He lowered himself into the bed with a sigh. He put his face in his hands.

"Sylvia?" Alex called looking through his fingers to the girl.

"Yes," she said softly.

"I am tired of running," Alex responded.

"I am too, but what else can we do?" she asked.

Alex paused for a moment, "We are going to take the fight to Dan." He knew it was crazy, but with all four of them plus the Ghost Gauntlets, they could have the upper hand. He could see fear pass through her eyes quickly. "With the finished Ghost Gauntlets, we can split Dan into Phantom and Plasimus. It would be easy to rid ourselves of them."

"Vlad had a couple ghost containment thermos we can also take," Sylvia said trying to appear confident. "We need to talk to Gwen and Robin also."

DP~DP~DP

Thalen clenched his fists; the air was filled with the scent of smoke. He narrowed his eyes at the burning remains of the training dummy. He had enough of this. He had enough of hiding and perfecting his skills. While he liked getting stronger, he knew every second he did so cost someone's life. Abigail was the last straw. He couldn't wait anymore; he couldn't just sit around while Dan continued to terrorized both the Ghost Zone and the human world.

With new purpose, he stormed out of the training hall. The former thief passed ghost who kept casting him pitying looks. He blinked back tears as he turned a corner. He only needed to find Wulf and convince him to let him return to the human world.

"Where do you think you are going?" Leon's voice asked before the halfa saw him following him.

"I'm not going to sit around while more people die," Thalen responded, " and you can't stop me." He continued to storm through the halls looking for the wolf-like ghost. Thalen could hear the other halfa's footsteps behind him.

"What's your problem?" Thalen shouted turning on the other halfa. Leon didn't say anything for a moment.

"You can't beat Dan by yourself," Leon stated coldly. Thalen exhaled loudly.

"I don't care," the former thief said getting in Leon's face.

Leon stepped back, "I am not going to stop you. I am joining you." Thalen stood blinking for a moment not comprehending what the other halfa was saying. "We need to get a move on if we are planning to leave before anyone notices that we are gone." Thalen watched as the other halfa hurried past him. The former thief smirked and followed at the heels of Leon.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: Hello everyone and Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays. Sorry for the long wait. Holidays are hectic as you may know. I will like to thank weesnawthedemonslayer for adding this story to their alerts.

-Alex The God Killer- Yup, Thalen needs to watch his temper, but he has Leon by his side for now and the remaining halfas are also planning something. Perhaps with all of them, they can overpower Dan.

-weesnawthedemonslayer- Aww, thanks for the review. I will try to make more but you might have deduced that the story is reaching its climax and it would be time for me to move onto other projects.

-Thalen de Valdor- I'm glad that you like the extra. I decided that I needed a little light-hearted team halfa. I honestly miss writing them like a little family. And yes, there is always someone who boos. And to answer your last question... yes the Final Battle is coming.

* * *

Robin looked at the three younger halfas. He might have not known them for long, but his protective soul had already latched on. That protective streak is what was screaming at him as Alex and Sylvia explained their plan or the disjointed method that they claimed was a plan.

"Sounds good to me. The sooner we get rid of Dan, the sooner we get to go home," Gwen stated crossing her arms.

Robin looked at the hopeful gazes around him. His heart filled with dread. He knew that they already lost someone and to rush in without a foolproof plan would be suicidal. "What if the gauntlets don't work?" Robin asked. "What if we can't handle Plasmius? The original idea was to have Vlad nearby so his ghost half would go back to him. What if Dan gets the gauntlets from us and splits us in half?" Robin let the negative thought in the air.

Sylvia seemed to be the one most effected by the contradicting point of view. Her eyes seemed to look far away before focusing on Robin. She didn't shirk away from his gaze. There was a strength in her stance. "But we are fighting together. Dan can't stand against that."

"Boom, hear that. Robin I like you. I mean not _like_ like, you know like," Gwen started awkwardly before getting herself under control. "But I agree with Alex. We can't keep running away. We take the fight to Dan and finish him."

Robin looked at the young teens in front of him. They were strong and Robin couldn't argue that the four of them could possibly trap Dan. He sighed, "Fine. If Alex and Sylvia can distract Vlad, Gwen and I will get the equipment we need."

The three halfas smirked, but separated each with their own tasks in mind.

Robin tiptoed into the billionaire's lab. He sent a glance to Gwen who had already tripped over her own feet twice. The older halfa looked at the shiny surfaces as he searched for the gauntlets. "There they are," Gwen said pointing to a glass cabinet, "of course he has to be the paranoid type." She groaned as she pointed to the key pad.

Robin looked at the lock for a moment. "What's his birthday?"

"May 15," Gwen responded. Robin nodded as he typed in "0515". The light turned red and the lock remained locked. "That worked wonderfully," Gwen commented sarcastically. The two stood there stumped for a moment and Robin was tempted to just leave with the thermos. "How about 1025?" Gwen asked pushing Robin's hands away to push the buttons. The lock turned green before sliding open.

"How did you know that? What is that number?" Robin asked looking at the girl amazed as she pulled out the large gloves.

The girl gave an almost sad smile, "It was a lucky guess. Come on, Let's get Alex and Sylvia and get out of here."

DP~DP~DP

Abigail opened her eyes slowly. Her eyes were met with nothing but darkness. She panicked sitting up looking around the dark expanse of space. It was absolutely silent not even her own heartbeat broke it. The teen put a hand to her chest, but the familiar beating of a heart was missing. The black expanse lightened a bit illuminated by a dull green glow. "I am sorry," a echo-like female voice said, "I was too late to save you." Abigail searched for the sorrowful voice. Her eyes scanned the room that she was currently in. It appeared to be a basic bedroom.

She scanned the doorway. Her eyes focused on a pair of blood red eyes, the rest of the figure remained hidden in shadow. "Am I dead?" Abigail asked the eyes. The ruby orbs looked down and Abigail could feel a sob catch in her throat. She didn't need the other being to say the words to understand the message. The teen put a hand to her mouth. "I have to tell my family. I need to see them," she said the desire to see her father, mother, and brother overtaking any other thought. She was shaking uncontrollably her eyes burning with tears that would never fall.

The red eyes glowed brighter, "No! You can't do that. You can stay here in the Ghost Zone. It really isn't so bad here." The ghost didn't move from her spot still remaining hidden.

"But I need to see my family. How can I stay with a ghost I don't even know?" Abigail asked. She got up to her feet hovering a couple inches from the floor.

"You'll pass on if you see them. Seeing them is your obsession and once you complete it you disappear," the female ghost said her voice gaining a sense of urgency.

"That's okay. I..I think I am ready to go on," Abigail said with a small grin.

The red eyes refused to look at her, "you are really brave. But what about the other halfas you trained with? Sylvia? Alex? Thalen? Are you going to leave them without saying goodbye?"

Abigail thought about it for a moment. Could she really turn her back to the others? The girl knew the answer to that question; she couldn't. "I'm going to help them finish what we started, but after that I'm visiting my family." She stood resolute in front of the ghost.

Those red eyes shined proudly looking at the teen ghost with affection. Something in the ruby orbs struck something familiar in Abigail's memory. "The others are on the move. It would be best to catch up to them." The ghost turned away from Abigail.

"Wait!" Abigail called out to the familiar ghost. "Why don't you come with me? With your help, all of us can easily take Dan down."

"I can't. It is better for me to remain here," the ghost said sadness and regret clinging to the words. "Take care of yourself, Abigail," the ghost said before disappearing in a wisp of blue energy.


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: Hi everyone, I hope you are doing well. So for the New Year I made a small resolution to update more frequently... so far not doing so hot. So I am hoping to put up two chapters this week and continue to do one once a week. Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Abigail tried not to think of the mysterious ghost anymore instead she focused on what to do next. She could go back home and speak with her family or search for the other halfas. She debated with herself on her choices when she figured out what to do. She looked around the Ghost Zone before picking the correct direction. She flew past several purple doors and floating islands while she looked for the specific door. She found it after an hour.

Unlike the other doors of the Ghost Zone this one led out to the Human world. It was an unknown portal created by a family friend. The girl noted that it was slightly ajar which was unusual. Abigail slipped through the small crack and into the abandoned room. She didn't bother to find the owner of the home, but turned intangible and invisible to escape the home.

In the air she looked for her large estate. She flew quickly remaining invisible into the familiar house. She floated through the halls trying to focus on the task she had set out for herself. She was going to grab a precious family heirloom and she wasn't planning to get caught.

She floated down to her father's study to search its normal location. Behind the mahogany desk hanging on the wall was a large sword. It was once said to be used by her ancestors to destroy evil and the former halfa decided that the weapon could give her an edge. She floated to the weapon taking it in her hands and the blade turned invisible as well.

"Abby?" a familiar male voice asked. "Are you here?" Abigail turned to see her younger brother. The resemblance was undeniable his dark hair matching her human hair color. "I know your secret."

Her brother's confession caused the girl to drop her invisibility. The male smiled at his sister and the girl return the gesture trying not to cry. "Hey, I missed you Abby. I know you are off being a hero, but..." the boy trailed off. "What's wrong? Did someone hurt you? I'll show him a thing or two," the boy said angrily.

Abigail chuckled, "You can't. He is a lot stronger than the ghost we have seen before." She took a deep breath as she lowered herself to the ground in front of her brother. "George, I'm not human any more," she said lowering her head. A pair of warm arms wrapped themselves around her shaking shoulders.

"You're still my sister. Not matter what you are or where you go," George said holding onto the girl. He let go to look at her face. "Go show whatever evil spirit who's boss. You can come back and explain everything to Mom and Dad after."

Abigail nodded giving her brother one more hug before leaving. She made her way to Wisconsin to look for the others.

DP~DP~DP~DP

Leon was grateful that Wulf let Thalen and him leave. Although the beast like ghost seemed unsure, he stated that he was once friends with the ex-hero and he trusted that the halfas would try to return him to that state again. Leon didn't say that Thalen no longer wished to save the former hero. Leon looked at his companion who flew beside him in the blue sky. He had heard the halfa's tragic past and a small part of him sympathized.

"Where is he?" Thalen asked looking through the sky his anger clearly increasing the temperature around him.

"I suggest we land and take a break. We are going to get no where if we don't rest," Leon state not answering his question. Thalen huffed but followed Leon to the ground where the two turned back to their human form. Leon sat on a park bench leaning back so his face was pointing at the sky. He tried to ignore the other halfa's angry pacing. Leon opened a bored eye watching as the other halfa mumbled to himself looking to the sky occasionally.

"Do you think we should get the others? You know, strength in numbers and all that," Thalen stated as he looked at the other halfa.

Leon sighed, "Sure, where are they?" He straightened his posture crossing his arms across his chest at the same time.

"We had a small hideout we can check out," Thalen replied.

"Would they even remain there?" Leon asked coldly, "If they think that all three of you died, they might have moved to a more secure location."

Thalen frowned," But that's the best lead I have. So I'm going to look there and you are coming with me."

"Why is that?"

"Because under this whole attitude is someone who actually cares what happens to people. For example, Pandora. How long is it going to be before Dan finds her?" Thalen countered looking smug.

"Don't you even suggest that," Leon growled, "But you have a point. I'll go just to prove that the other halfas abandoned you."

"And you'll see that they didn't."

DP~DP~DP

Sylvia remained quiet as Robin started the van. She didn't understand why they took the fancy car and at first thought it was just Gwen's idea to take the vehicle; but now she knew how great it was. "Where are you planning to go?" Alex asked from the passenger seat.

"We decided that we are going to drive around the country and hope that we run into Dan," Gwen said sarcastically.

Alex didn't look amused and didn't bother to respond to the girl. "We are heading back to Wisconsin. Dan already was interested in that area. Perhaps we can draw him back if we make ourselves known to the populace."

"We're going to be bait?" Sylvia asked nervously although her mind was racing with the negative outcomes.

"Yeah, like chumming the water. Dan will want to show his ugly mug," Gwen clarified, "But we can take him out. There's four of us and one of him."

"But we only have one Thermos," Sylvia stated, "what if we do split Phantom and Plasmius? We can't store them in the same thermos."

"Maybe Vlad has some other ghost storage device at the old headquarters," Alex said, "We should check there first. Maybe we can make our stand there and have the anti-ghost security help us."

Robin nodded his head. "That sounds like a plan."


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: Hello, the worst fanfic writer here. I really do apologize for not updating. I really don't have any excuse; I just have been feeling down/sick lately and couldn't concentrate. I hope you are all doing well. I don't know how much longer this story will go on (I am thinking three chapters or so). I just wanted to take this moment to thank everyone for reading the story and all of you're wonderful reviews. I have enjoyed working with each of your characters and will miss them. Thank you wwareham1 for adding this fic to your favorites.

* * *

Robin kept his eyes firmly on the road although there were no cars on the dark road. The van's headlights were the only light even the moon stayed hidden. He gripped the wheel tightly making his knuckles turn white. He watched the lines on the highway blur hoping that they would dull the strange tightness in his chest. The oldest halfa tried not to voice his concerns to the others; he spared a glance at Gwen. The girl seemed relaxed in the passenger seat her feet on the dash. She had her head tilted back, but her eyes were staring at the dark sky. She seemed deep in thought, but serene. He smiled with affection at her beautiful silhouette. She must have felt his stare; she turned to face him as he looked back to the road. Robin tried not to make it obvious that he was staring, but Gwen's face turned to a small smile.

He spared a glance at the rear-view mirror. He couldn't see much due to the lack of light, but he could see the two shadows of his comrades. Alex and Sylvia were leaning toward each other using the other as support. Sylvia had her head on Alex's shoulder and from the relaxed body language he didn't mind. Robin could tell they were speaking, but he couldn't focus on the words. They were nothing more than wisps of air in the air. The oldest halfa could tell whatever they words were, they were encouraging. "This is a fun road trip," Gwen said sarcastically. "Come on, we're not dead yet. Can we at least act halfway alive?" Gwen stated taking her feet off the dash.

"And we're not going to die, Gwen," Robin stated knowing that the negativity could become a self fulfilling prophesy. "We will be fine. When we get to Wisconsin we can go through our plan." He turned back to the road trying to focus. Robin saw the exit and he turned expertly. He could almost feel everyone becoming tense as they got nearer.

"We should leave the car here. It would be too obvious if we drive it right to the hideout," Alex stated. Robin agreed pulling over and stopping the car. All four halfas stepped out stretching out their legs and arms from the long trip. They didn't even have to speak with each other to simultaneously shift forms and taking to the skies.

DP~DP~DP

Thalen and Leon landed at the abandon hideout. The same old shack was there, but to Thalen it seemed even more devoid of life. Everything was silent and the world was at peace; everything the halfa wasn't feeling. He sighed before speaking to his companion. "Let's get inside it is getting cold out here," he mumbled taking the initiative.

Thalen stepped into the elevator before Leon followed silently. The two stood awkwardly in the elevator. The former thief had flashbacks of watching movies with a similar situation. He shifted uncomfortably, but didn't add to the silence. The elevator finally stopped after what felt like a lifetime. The doors slid open to an empty hall.

"I'm going to check the kitchen first," Thalen stated walking slowly to the room he mentioned. His footsteps echoed lonely in the hall while Leon's footsteps became quiet. The former thief pushed open the door to the kitchen to see no one. He almost could feel panic setting in wondering if they too where killed by Dan. He calmed himself enough to remember a lesson he shouldn't have forgotten; he could easily just search out for their energy. He closed his eyes to look for that energy that became as familiar to him as his own. Thalen sensed...nothing besides Leon. Cold chilled his core at the implications of this new revelation. He shook his head. He couldn't think of the worst. He turned heel to meet Leon in the hall.

"It appears that they aren't here," Leon stated in his usual cold manner. "Do you have any idea where they would have gone?"

Thalen shrugged. "I actually don't have a clue," he stated defeated. Leon put a hand on the other teen's shoulder trying to comfort him. Thalen allowed it this once just because he wanted some assurance that everything was okay. The elevator made a bright ding before the door slid open. Both teen boys looked to the doors.

A female ghost with dark purple hair floated out holding a sword too large for her in her hands. "Abigail?" Thalen called out his heart feeling relieved to see the girl. She didn't say anything, but dropped the weapon in her arms to slam into the former thief. Thalen held onto her back tightly not letting go in fear that she would disappear.

"I am so glad you are okay, Thalen," Abigail said also tightening her grip. Thalen could almost feel joyous tears build up.

"The feeling is mutual," Thalen said finally releasing the girl to look at her. "Why don't you change back to your human form? It would be more comfortable," Thalen suggested. The girl looked down to her feet her eyes suddenly sad. Thalen swallowed roughly as the worst thing crossed his mind; she wasn't even half human even more. "Don't worry about for now. What's important is that you are here," Thalen added saving the girl from saying what was clearly caught in her throat.

"Thalen, Abigail," a voice called out. Thalen barely turned to the source before he was nearly tackled by another female. She backed off so Thalen could see who was his attacker. Sylvia stood the look of pure relief on her face, unshed tears glistened in her eyes. "I thought you were dead," the girl clarified wiping her hand across her face.

Thalen looked at the other people who entered. Alex stood behind Sylvia a small smile on his face. The two male halfas didn't say a single word but the message was clear; they were glad that the other hadn't bit the dust. Alex looked at the group before asking, "Is Catalina with you?"

Thalen could feel his throat close knowing that the older halfa wasn't with them. "She held Dan off while we escaped. We haven't seen her since," Thalen said the words slowly. Sylvia and Abigail grew silent in their joy their faces turning to matching ones of sorrow. Alex didn't say a word but turned away.

"My condolences," Robin stated getting to the center of the group. "However, with all of us gathered here, Dan is sure to follow."

"We don't have time to mourn. That can be done after we beat Dan," Gwen stated crossing her arms. "If we all work together, we could figure out a fool-proof plan to guarantee our victory." Thalen looked at the gathered halfas each with a determined stance. He grinned and dared to hope for a good outcome.


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: Hello again. Shocking isn't it? Another chapter already? Once again, thank you all for reading/ submitting characters. They all have been so fun to write. This a chapter is a little short, sorry about that.

-Alex the God Killer- yes, the final battle is finally on us.

-Thalen de Valdor- getting chills, cool. I don't think I would have a calm chapter. Hadn't thought of that so I hope this chapter helps fill that for you.

* * *

Vlad couldn't believe that all four halfas slipped out without his notice. The millionaire hurried through the halls opening the many doors. Each of the bedrooms were empty which caused his stomach to sink. He shivered as a chill crawled down his spine. The millionaire turned around aware of the cold air and perhaps he was wondering if one of the teens were still in the mansion.

The reprimand stopped on his lips as he saw the woman floating in front of him. Her name was on the tip of his tongue but he feared saying it. Just voicing it could make her disappear. "They are not here," the woman stated, her scarlet eyes full of sorrow.

"I was starting to notice," Vlad responded. "I don't suppose you know where they went."

The woman smiled slightly not matching at all the ones she had in life. "I have a pretty good idea. Would you like me to take you?" she asked holding out a blue hand.

"Not that I trust you Catalina, but.." Vlad trailed off realizing he said her name. The ghost froze the look of horror on her face. The man grabbed the ghost's outstretched hand preventing her from leaving.

"I am not her anymore," she whispered, "but that doesn't mean I wish you harm."

Vlad nodded, "Then take me to the kids then." The woman nodded in agreement putting his arm around her shoulders and lifting him off the ground.

DP~DP~DP

Alex and Thalen walked through the lab. The two were really quiet as they searched for the anti-ghost defenses. "Remember when Catalina set off the defenses and we were under lockdown," Thalen stated looking at a large computer monitor.

Alex chuckled slightly, "Yes. It was nice to have time to spend with each other. Although I don't think Vlad was amused. Though watching football with him was fun."

"He was so ticked when I was rooting against the Packers. I thought he was going to toss me out," Thalen stated laughing again.

"Catalina held him back pretty well. How about those pranks that you pulled on the girl's? You remember how you thought all three of them were going to kill both of us," Alex added with a chuckle. The two became quiet realizing at the same time that from this moment on nothing would be the same. Even if everyone was okay at the end of this, they would go their separate ways back to their lives. On top of that, Abigail was still a full ghost and Catalina missing. Suddenly all the laughter seemed out of place.

"Hey, you're going to keep in touch, right? It would be rude to just disappear. Not that I would miss you," Thalen stated. Alex grinned and nodded slowly.

"You're like a brother to me too," Alex stated before flipping a switch he found. "Luckily for us, Vlad reprogrammed the defenses to ignore our own energy signatures." The former thief smirked at the change of subject, but agreed with the other teen; he became like a brother to him as well.

DP~DP~DP~

Abigail and Sylvia were walking around the ground above the hideout. They were placing different ghost equipment in easy to access places. "It's good to see you, Abigail. I was worried," Sylvia stated noticing how quiet the other girl was.

"Sylvia, you know that I'm not alive anymore right? I am not okay," Abigail stated sagging her shoulders. "After what Catalina gave up, I just ruined it and got myself killed." Sylvia watched at the other girl's shoulders shook as silent sobs rustled her. The artist looked at the princess only for a moment before giving her a hug.

"But you are okay, Abigail. Just because you aren't part human anymore doesn't mean we care more about you. You are still one of the best people I know," Sylvia said. "And I am sure Catalina knew what she was doing."

Abigail took a deep unnecessary breath in and exhaled. "Thank you Sylvia. I am glad that I met you," Abigail said with a sad smile.

DP~DP~DP

All the teens gathered at the abandoned shack. They each had a look of determination. "Are you ready?" Robin asked the gathered group. "I need to hear all of you to say it," Robin added.

Gwen gave a confident smile hiding insecurities, "Yeah, I mean, with all the time we took to set up everything. We better be ready." She crossed her arms not adding how something could go wrong.

Sylvia twirled her thumbs and Robin was positive that she was running the worst case scenario in her mind. However she paused her nervous movement to stare down the oldest halfa. "Yes, Dan needs to be stopped." Robin smiled at the soft-spoken girl.

Alex didn't have a clear to read expression. "I agree with Sylvia and I believe we have the power to do so." The quiet teen nodded giving a small smile. Robin smiled as well feeling a little more confident that the others seemed confident.

Robin turned his gaze to Leon who didn't say anything, but Robin didn't expect him too. The other teen shrugged his shoulder. "Yes," the teen said simply. Robin moved on quickly still getting a cold feeling off the other teen.

"Psh, of course, everything is going to go right. Dan won't know what hit him," Thalen said confidently. Robin chuckled a little at the enthusiastic response. The former thief gave a thumbs up.

"I'm sure that all together we can do it," Abigail added, "I'm ready." With the last statement, the teens shot large ecto-blasts into the sky like a beacon.


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: Hi everyone. I am sure you are all so surprised that I am posting another chapter. I am a bit myself, but I have been in a writing mood so that helps. Fight scenes are so difficult when the sides are so uneven, but I did the best I could. I don't really love the way this ended.

-Thalen de Valor- I am glad that I was close to what you wanted in the previous chapter. I am grateful that you have been a loyal reviewer.

* * *

Sylvia wasn't sure what to expect. She hadn't face down the ghost before, but it was painfully obvious when Dan came in the area. The seven halfa's ghost sense all went off filling the air with wisps of blue and one red. The power that came off the other ghost chilled the artist to the bone.

The seven were in a circle looking as far as they could for any sign of the ghost. The energy buzzed around them making it impossible to determine where exactly where Dan was coming from. It was making Sylvia sick to her stomach, but she didn't panic. She couldn't when she had everyone behind her.

The group looked around before a sound of an ecto-blast hitting a shield sounded. Sylvia turned around to see a green wall of energy formed from Alex's and Thalen's hands. In fact, all of the halfas gathered on that side. Side by side they were an intimidating force. Sylvia looked at the direction from where the attack came from. A large white shape was zooming toward them. The white shape had a white billowing behind him.

Abigail shot a couple of energy blasts at the approaching shape. Dan zig-zagged as more attacked flew by him. A couple of green knives flew in between a couple of blasts. The being separated into two dodging the blasts and the ecto-knives. Two sets of blasts shot one Dan out of the sky. "That's what I am talking about," Gwen's voice cheered.

The tall ghost's duplicates split again. Robin, Leon, and Gwen dove down to the two Dans on the ground. Sylvia put up a shield as an icy blue attack almost collided with Thalen's back. "I have to admit. You all have been a thorn in my side," Dan spoke his voice echoing from both duplicates that stood in front of the quad.

"Aww, that's too bad because we're not going away any time soon," Thalen said with a smirk. Dan didn't look amused and retaliated with green energy disk which drove the four to separate.

Sylvia gasped as Dan appeared in front of her. A pink energy shield knocked back the ghost. The artist took a deep breath throwing blasts at the off balanced Dan. He turned intangible letting the attacks go through him. Abigail stood beside Sylvia. "We need to herd him over there," the ghost girl said nudging the artist to the west.

Sylvia nodded knowing that the other girl had hid her family's heirloom in the branches of a tree in that direction. Abigail zipped to Dan's right shooting a pink blast causing him to fly back. Dan retaliated with a blast of his own. Sylvia casts a teal shield in front of the other girl blocking the attack effectively.

The ghost's red eyes narrowed at Sylvia and the girl darted to the west drawing the ghost's attention. Dan took a deep breath before letting out a loud wail which tossed the artists into the treeline. Sylvia curled up as the branches hit her and she reposition herself to land on one of the lower branches. She watched as Dan turned to Abigail expectantly almost laughing at what he saw. Abigail looked shocked as the ghost just smirked turning to where Sylvia was in the tree.

The ghost spun turning into a swirl of green energy before appearing in the top branches of the tree. Sylvia 'painted' the area around her disappearing from Dan's sight. The artist spared a glance to Abigail's position as the other girl sneaked into the trees as well. Sylvia knew what she had to do; it was dangerous and slightly insane, but she knew that it would give Abigail the opening she needed.

Sylvia dropped her camouflage and immediately shot Dan in the shoulder. The ghost snarled in pain before sending shards of ice energy down at the trees. Sylvia turned intangible. One of the shards brushed her arm chilling the ectoplasm in the limb. The girl became tangible and held onto the arm as the nerves froze. Sylvia couldn't move it. Dan's amused chuckle came from above her and Sylvia jumped to another branch as a volley of ice shards slammed into where she just was.

Dan's amused smile turned to a face of annoyance. He braced himself before wailing. The icy blue ripples flew into the trees. Sylvia dropped to the ground as she watched the top of the branches turned to pure ice. A girl's shout of surprise drew Sylvia's attention. Abigail fell to the ground her hands clenched around the hilt of a sword. Sylvia flew toward the other girl putting up a shield as Dan slammed his glowing fists into the shield. The teal energy looked cracked and Sylvia was sure she wouldn't be able to hold it. A swirl of pink energy spun through the cracks knitting the shield together.

Sylvia looked to her left where Abigail had one hand on the shield. The other looked frozen with the sword in its grasp. She only had to look at the other's eyes before knew what they had to do. Sylvia dropped the shield both girls ducking under Dan as he flew over. The artist grabbed the sword's hilt over the princess's hands and the two swung the weapon at Dan's unprotected back. The blade glowed a pink and teal color as it tore through the ghost as if it was nothing. Dan's form dissipated in swirls of green energy. "What does that mean?" Sylvia asked.

Abigail sighed, "It means that it was a duplicate. The real Dan is still in the fight."

DP~DP~DP~DP

Robin knew they had a fight ahead of them. He looked at the pair of Dans in front of them. The three halfas floated as the tension built. Robin knew the ghost was sizing up his chances and the odds. He barely had time to react when a volley of blue. The three halfas put up a shield together; the colors of their energy blended together. The blasts smashed into the shield harmlessly. Gwen smirked cockily before all three were slammed in the back by a wave of a ghostly wail. The three were knocked forward off of their feet. Leon recovered first shooting his own icy blasts at the duplicate who shot at them.

Gwen sunk into the ground doubtfully grabbing the Plasmius Maximus. Robin flew to the other Dan tackling to the ground with a fist full of energy. Before the ghost hit the ground, he became intangible. Robin set his feet downward to bounce off the ground as he looked for the missing ghost duplicate. He felt his body shiver as Dan reappeared and grabbed him by his front. Robin hung there as electric shocks traveled down his body almost forcing it to turn back to human. Robin held onto his ghost form grasping at the cold iciness of his core.

"Hey take your hands off of him," Gwen's gruff voice growled. Dan released a groggy and barely standing Robin. The halfa dropped like a puppet without strings. The oldest halfa just looked up to see Gwen standing in front of a rapidly approaching Dan. She dodged the blasts coming her way with the grace of a dancer. Robin wanted to get up to help the teen girl but his legs wouldn't listen.

Gwen shouted in surprise as when a blast struck her. The girl's form dissipated in wisps of ectoplasm. Robin had to chuckle at the furious look on Dan's face that only turned to absolute rage when Gwen dropped into the visible spectrum clamping the belt-like device around his waist. The ghost howled in pain before elbowing Gwen away.

The girl tumbled across the ground skidding to a stop. Gwen didn't have time to get to her feet before Dan sent large bolts of pink energy at the girl. She writhe in pain her screams deafening. Robin shot like a blast shooting spearlike slivers of ice energy pinning the ghost to the ground. Dan looked shocked at his body turned to ice.

Robin looked quickly at Gwen who sat up looking worse for wear. The oldest halfa remembered that Leon was still battling his own duplicate. The standoffish halfa was keeping Dan in close quarters which seemed to keep Dan from attacking him with ecto-blasts.

Robin could tell that the other halfa had managed several hits considering that the ghost appeared slower. He debated whether to send a blast to back up the other halfa but decided to hold off. Each of the punches Leon threw drove him so close to Dan making it impossible for Robin to get a clear shot. Getting an idea, Robin froze the ground behind Dan. "Leon," he called making an obvious glance toward the patch of ice. Leon didn't say anything, but the confident smile told Robin that he understood.

Robin turned back to Gwen and her duplicate who was slowly disappearing into a green mist. She stumbled slightly as the energy expense finally caught up to her. The girl fell to her knees and Robin ran to her as she shifted to her human form. She looked up tiredly, but held up a thumbs up. Robin felt so relieved that she was okay.

DP~DP~DP

Leon had Dan on the ropes. He had knew as soon as they split the duplicates that the ghost's forte was mid-range fighting. The teen knew what to do. He speed rushed him getting too close for the ghost to form effective ecto-blasts. He swung his left fist as Dan shifted just to the right. The punches came a lot faster. The ghost did a good job of dodging most of them. Leon, however, felt his fists collide with the bulk of Dan on more than one occasion.

The ghost tried to electrocute him, but Leon turned intangible quickly. He became solid as soon as the attacking appendage wasn't near him. Dan's furious face was amusing and Leon was glad he was the one to put it there. Dan struck out with an icy fist that froze the air close to Leon's face, but the halfa didn't mind.

The ghost's attacks were getting sloppy and slow. Leon knew it had to be from his own attacks. "Leon," Robin's voice called and Leon barely spared him a glance. He noticed where the other halfa was looking at and saw the patch of ice. The slight distraction cost him a blow to the face, but Robin regain his focus. He put both hands together sending a giant ray of green energy at Dan point blank. The ghost skidded to the ice where he struggled to gain his balance on the ice. Dan snarled flying into the air as Leon took a swing at him. The halfa passed harmless under avoiding the ice.

Leon gasped as the air was knocked out of his lungs as a ghostly wail sent him crashing to the ground. He pushed himself to his hands and knees before another blast knocked him back to the ground. He turned intangible sinking into the ground away from Dan's punishing attacks.

He returned to the surface several feet away from Dan. Gwen and Robin were both kneeling on the ground. Gwen was obviously done, but Robin gave him a supportive nod. Leon charged Dan swinging his fist; the ghost dodged only to be pinned by a single ecto-spear from Robin. Leon smirked as he slammed his other fist into the ghost's jaw hearing it crack from the blow. Dan's red eyes widened as his body collapsed into nothing but ectoplasm. "Another duplicate," Leon huffed.

"That means..." Robin trailed off looking for the other halfas. Leon joined the search quickly spotting Abigail and Sylvia stumbling out of the woods one arm hanging limply. "Where's Thalen and Alex?" he asked softly.

A loud wail sounded causing all of the halfas to hone in on the battle.

DP~DP~DP

Alex knew something was up with this duplicate. Not only was it really fast, but every blow was crushing. The battle started easily enough; Alex drew Dan's attention while Thalen zip in and out of range attacking all the while. Alex noticed that the attacks didn't seem to slow the ghost.

It only took a moment for the pair to get on the defensive. Dan started by drawing the two halfas together. Dan wailed sending the two halfas into the ground. Thalen got to his feet first holding out the Ghost Gauntlets in his hands. The long claws sprouted from each finger as Thalen sped toward the ghost. Alex created a wall of ice behind the ghost. Dan bumped into it.

Alex grinned to himself preparing the Fenton Thermos to capture at least one half of the ghost. The sound of shattering ice shocked both halfas. Alex hissed in pain as his body light up in pain; electricity seemed to fry everything in his body. Bright white rings formed around his waist as he turned human. The teen was lifted by the front of his shirt so he was looking into Dan's red eyes.

He was wondering if this was the last thing Catalina saw as he realized he really didn't have anyway to release Dan's grasp. Alex watched as the sky seemed to get darker. He looked over Dan's shoulder to see green ecto-swords floating in the air forming a cylinder around them. He barely took notice of this before Thalen zipped between Dan and himself green sword in one hand. The collision knocked Alex from Dan's grasp and into Thalen as he carried him away.

The former thief dropped off Alex before pivoting and attack Dan with a new sword he plucked from the cylinder. Alex knew that Thalen could only keep up so much so he did what he could. He held up his hands thinking about warming his normally icy attacks. The battle field fogged up giving Thalen cover as he zipped from one end of the cylinder to the other grabbing blades slicing at Dan while the ghost tried to dodge. Alex couldn't see very much but as the fog cleared he caught sight of Thalen who was only feet in front of him.

The other teen was leaning forward breathing heavily. Alex reached out to him pushing the former thief behind him. He could feel Thalen change back into his human form. Alex could hear Dan's chuckles as he realized that the two halfas were at their limit.

The large ghost stepped out of the billowing fog his fangs in a smile. Alex could feel that Thalen couldn't do much more. He narrowed his eyes forming an ice wall in front of Dan who blasted it away not losing pace.

A strong gust nearly knocked him over. "Hey over here," a girl's voice called. Alex turned to see Gwen standing with Robin and Leon behind her. The three looked worn, but they stood tall.

"I got you," Sylvia's voice whispered at his side as she appeared into the visible spectrum. Alex could feel her energy in the air and guessed that she was keeping Dan from detecting them.

"It seems like he is the real one," Abigail's voice said from his other side in her hands another thermos. Thalen chuckled behind him as he too got to his feet.

"Here, you're the fastest, Alex," Thalen stated handing over the Ghost Gauntlets. The four nodded separating slightly. Alex could feel Sylvia casting her camouflage in a circle around Dan hiding all the halfas from Dan.

The ghost spun around clearly searching for his enemies. Gwen's wind blew furiously masking the sounds of the halfas rearranging themselves. Leon struck first pushing Dan backwards toward Alex. Any counter the ghost tried was blocked by either ecto-shields of varying colors. An ice spear impaled the ghost's cape as two ecto-knives found their way to his feet. Fully trapped, Dan snarled at the invisible halfas. Alex leaped forward out of Sylvia's camouflage sinking the Ghost Gauntlet's claws into Dan's chest. He pulled whatever his hands caught on. He strained against the pull until his arms just flung out.

Floating in front of him was a very worn Danny Phantom and Plasmius. The two partial ghosts looked unsure at their hands before reaching out to the other. Alex could feel his breath catch in his throat; they couldn't go through this again. All seven of them were exhausted; they wouldn't be able to split the two again.

DP~DP~DP

Vlad tried not to think about how far off the ground they were or how fast Catalina zipped through the air. He trusted her or at least he trusted the halfa he knew. Even without his ghost abilities he could tell they were getting close to the halfas. The air buzzed with energy.

He could hear a strangled noise from Catalina as she increased her speed to almost recklessness. Vlad held onto the hands holding onto him tightly. His eyes caught the seven halfas standing in a circle around two floating forms. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; they did it. Those crazy teens did it.

Catalina gripped tightly onto him before she teleported. Vlad could feel his stomach flip as he reappeared in the circle of halfas. His feet landed on the ground with a thud, but Catalina was nowhere.

"Vlad?" his halfas gasps as he appeared in front of their eyes. The billionaire looked up to his floating ghost half. Plasmius's red eyes focused on him. The partial ghost looked conflicted.

Vlad jumped in surprise as Thalen stepped to his side banishing a Thermos in his hand flipping it on in Danny's direction. The partial ghost shrieked as it was sucked into the thermos. Plasmius looked shocked but Vlad pulled his ghost to himself. The ghost turned intangible before flying into the millionaire's chest. He could feel his core settle in its rightful spot. He gasps as it was as painful as having it ripped from him. Vlad put his hand on his chest feeling the familiar buzz of energy.

He turned to the seven halfas at a lost for words. "Thank you, all of you," Vlad stated the words honest as he looked at the accomplished faces.

"How did you get here?" Thalen asked breaking the calm silence. Vlad looked behind the group debating whether to mention the invisible ghost who stayed far from the group.

"I have my allies," Vlad answered not wanting to drag the woman into it when she clearly wanted to remain hidden. The halfas didn't look satisfied with the answer, but Vlad wouldn't expand on it. He looked at the tired expressions on those around him and felt only affection for each and everyone. "Let's rest and then we can move forward," he stated calmly.

* * *

A/N: There will be an epilogue so if you wish for a specific ending for your character please message me.


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: So we have finally reached the end of this fic. I would like to thank everyone who reviews, read, followed, and faved this fic. This was definitely an adventure for me being the first SYOC I have written. Thank you for all the characters that you created. I have enjoyed writing every single one of them. Part of me actually will miss them, but all things must have an end. I don't say this often; I love y'all guys. This ended a little happier than I had originally thought it would, but I enjoy it a lot, so please have fun for the final chapter for this fic.

*Edit* Oh my gosh, I forgot to finish up Abigail's section. I can't believe no one called me out on it. Thanks, I guess, but I feel so bad.

* * *

"You know you are not doing yourself any favors by moping around here," the ghost's motherly tone stated to the female ghost perched on a short Grecian pillar.

"I'm not moping, Pandora," the ghost said barely shifting her ruby eyes toward the four-armed ghost. The ancient ghost had one pair on her hips and the other pair crossed. Pandora was clearly not believing her or perhaps she was upset that she was 'moping' in her lair.

"You've been wandering my lair for the past month and the month before that you were trudging around the Ghost Zone. Sounds like moping to me, Catalina," Pandora said her voice had a little edge to it.

"Don't call me that," Catalina hissed bearing her fangs. "She is dead," she added with a mumble wrapping her blue arms around her. Pandora softened her gaze slightly at the pain in the other's voice.

"Have you tried talking to them?" Pandora asked. Catalina shook her head slowly. "They won't care that you are a ghost. It is just a transition; you are still you," Pandora comforted putting a hand on the smaller woman's shoulder. Catalina gave her a scoff but didn't add more. "We all went through the exact same existential crisis and we came to terms with it," Pandora stated. Catalina sighed putting her head in her hands.

"I guess, I can go see them one last time," Catalina said floating off of the pillar. Pandora sighed feeling like the former halfa wasn't understanding her, but hopeful that the others would help. "I will see you around or not," Catalina shrugged, "either way is fine." Pandora watched as the other flew away and wondered if she should have kept her here and brought the halfas to her.

DP~DP~DP

Leon felt a little crowded in the mansion which was ridiculous considering that Vlad had it rebuilt to hold all the halfas if they chose to stay. He could hear loud voice from every room. He stomped to the library which seemed the only room he could get some peace. The halfa walked in to see Vlad at one of the armchairs quietly reading a book like the chaos in the mansion wasn't happening. "Good afternoon, Leon," Vlad stated looking up from his book.

"Hey," Leon responded coldly.

"Leon, why are you here?" Vlad asked with a sigh. Leon could feel his fists clenched as he felt insulted. "I could see that you're not happy here," Vlad added closing his book with a thud.

Leon shrugged, "I just don't like crowds. It is a bit crowded here."

Vlad rose an eyebrow, "I don't believe that is the reason. Thalen told me about your relationship with a Miss Pandora." Leon narrowed his eyes at that; of course the other halfa couldn't keep his mouth shut. "May I suggest that you miss your interactions with her and that is why you are feeling upset?"

"You could doesn't mean that you're right though," Leon grumbled. Vlad smirked a little at the tone.

"Follow me," he replied setting his book down and getting to his feet. Leon watched the man pass him and debated whether or not to follow. Vlad only looked over his shoulder once as he turned the doorknob. Leon decided there was no harm in following after him. The two walked in comfortable silence. Leon saw Abigail and Thalen speaking to each other, but didn't bother trying to listen in. The two passed the other halfas who also seemed to be enjoying their stay.

"Here we are," Vlad stated drawing Leon's attention. He was a little surprised that the two were in a shiny lab. The counters and tables all a shiny silver with the focal point being a large gateway. "I will not hold you here if you are happier elsewhere," Vlad stated stepping toward the control panel activating the portal.

"I don't understand," Leon stated.

Vlad leaned against a nearby lab table, "Take it from someone who is much older than you, tell the people you care about that they matter. You never know when they would be taken away."

Leon thought over that and advising a plan. "Thank you," the halfa stated with a small smile.

"You may come and go as you wish, just call me ahead of time so I can have the portal open," Vlad stated. Leon nodded shifting to his ghost halfa before jetting through the green portal.

The halfa didn't even have to think about where he was going. He knew how to get there without even thinking about it. He didn't even pause when he saw the Greek temple-like lair. Leon knew that Pandora didn't like ghosts flying breakneck speeds in her lair, but he had to find her quickly.

"Leon, how are you here? Did you find a natural portal?" Pandora's voice came from above her as she floated down the staircase. "You know that is reckless and dangerous."

Leon laughed at the stern tone, "Vlad finally completed his portal."

Pandora nodded, "Well, that's good news. How are you doing? When do you have to go?"

Leon smiled, "Never, I'm going to stay here. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Pandora's face turned to shock which wasn't a common look on her. "I know that I am not perfect, but I love you. I would marry you if that is possible in the Ghost Zone."

Pandora chuckled, "Of course there is a marriage institution. But I don't see a ring, so perhaps you should try this proposal thing again." Leon bulked realizing he forgot an important detail. He could feel his shoulders slump thinking that she had refused. "But the answer is yes. I would love to spend my afterlife with you."

DP~DP~DP

Thalen shifted uncomfortably. He knew that Sylvia was right in her concern for Abigail, but he didn't know if his course of action was a good idea. He was determined though to see it through. He held his head high looking for the other girl. The former thief caught sight of the ghost girl floating on the balcony. "Abigail," he called out to her as he stepped out into balcony. The girl turned to give him a smile. Thalen stopped in front of her and took a deep breath.

"Did you want to go out to that new movie that just came out? Maybe we can get dinner at the diner near the theater?" Thalen asked feeling a little nervous.

"L-like a date?" the girl responded stuttering a little. A blush formed on her face. "B-but I am a ghost?"

Thalen shrugged, "So what? You're still you and I like you. Why does it matter that you don't have a heartbeat anymore?"

"Thank you. I needed to hear that," she replied pulling him into a hug. Thalen put his chin on her head as he pulled her close. She was a little cold to the touch, but Thalen didn't even notice. "But I really can't be walking around town like I am now. People don't take kindly to ghosts."

Thalen laughed at the comment ruffling her hair. "Yeah, I guess your right, but that still doesn't matter. Maybe we can just go bowling at the alley here for now until you figure out how to disguise yourself." Abigail chuckled giving the other halfa a peck on the cheek making the former thief blush.

DP~DP~DP

Alex was ready to get out of here, but he had to speak his mind to his aunt and he couldn't exactly do that over the phone. Sylvia stood beside him as supportive as she could. "You just need to do it. Maybe she didn't know that you felt like she abandon you," Sylvia stated patting his shoulder as a small white car came into view. "I'll be right here if you need a ghost abduction," Sylvia added with a smile as she turned invisible.

Alex nodded his head before walking off the porch and to the driveway. The white car parked sharply and the door swung open. "Alex," the woman who faulted out of the door called out. Alex had to brace himself as the woman slammed into him in a hug. "I was so worried. You just disappeared and the cops wouldn't look because they thought you just ran away," the woman rambled as she held him close. "Let me look at you," she stated finally releasing him from her death grip to hold him at arms length. Alex felt dizzy at this change of events. How was this the same woman who neglected him and never noticed that he was bullied? "I am so glad that you are okay. I thought you were gone for good. I am so sorry for not being there for you. I heard about how they treated you at school. I am so sorry for not supporting you. Please can you forgive me?" she ended holding onto his hand.

Alex looked at her tear-filled eyes and wanted to say no, but he couldn't say that to the only family he had left. "Yes I can forgive you, but can I go somewhere for the weekend," Alex said.

"You will come back?" she asked. Alex promised that he would as his aunt went back into the house.

DP~DP~DP

Abigail was unsure how her parents would take it. She knew that she had just ran off with nothing more than a note. How could she just appear as a ghost? She floated in front of the small castle that she grew up in. She tightened her hold on her family's heirloom. She tried to think about what Thalen would do.

She knew what he would do; he would be confident and say everything exactly what came to mind. She flew intangible through the front door. Knowing how early her family woke up she knew exactly where to go. She smiled to herself as she found her parents and her brother in the garden. It was a tradition for them to trim the flowers for the breakfast table. "Mom, Dad," she called out softly.

The three turned around suddenly recognizing the voice that called. "Abigail?" her mother asked a little unsure but definitely recognizing the girl. "What happened?"

Abigail took a deep breath before relating the whole story. She had to explain several things like being a halfa and Dan, but all three handled it well considering. "So are you mad at me?"

"Why would we be mad? You are a hero. You put others above yourself. We are little sad that you...um...dead, but we are glad that you can still visit us," her father responded.

"You can have your old room. Just because you are slightly different now doesn't mean you aren't are little girl," her mother said pulling Abigail into a hug.

DP~DP~DP

Catalina floated in front of the portal that belonged to Vlad. She debated to just leave and forget seeing the others. She took a unnecessary breath before floating in slowly. She landed on the floor of the lab softly. "I was wondering when you were going to appear," Vlad's voice said with amusement.

Catalina sighed turning to face Vlad who was leaning against the table. "You promised me something and I am here for you to keep your end of the bargain," she replied softly. Vlad turned away at the reply his eyes sad.

"Can you at least speak with everyone first?" Vlad asked, "Perhaps it would change your mind."

Catalina sighed, but nodded. "Lead the way," she muttered. Vlad held out his arm and she hooked her arm with his. Vlad tugged her gently into the hall.

"Given the time, they should be in the dinning hall waiting for dinner," Vlad explained as he guided her to the room he spoke of. "I filed the proper forms to adopt Thalen. He tried to appear that he didn't care, but I believe he was touched by the sentiment. I have also put aside monetary funds for their endeavors after high school whether it be college or another option."

"That's rather kind of you," Catalina remarked.

"I have learned a few things from a good friend," Vlad replied. Catalina chuckled slightly, but didn't comment any further. She held tightly onto his arm as he opened the door to the dinning hall far too slow. She was going to bolt but Vlad held her firmly in place.

The six halfas looked up from their plates. Four of them were absolutely in shock. "Cat," they called out in various of joy. She was rushed by the four teens. The boy took their time but there was relief in their eyes.

"Hi everyone," she said, but her voice didn't relay the normal optimism it once held.

"We missed you a lot," Abigail spoke up. "But we were able to give Vlad his ghost half back like you wanted."

"Like I wanted?" Catalina asked slowly.

"Well, yeah, I mean you thought we could save both so we tried to save both," Thalen stated as if it was obvious.

"Why would you? It was far more dangerous. You could have destroyed him instead."

"I thought that was fairly obvious. We actually like you and respect the both of you," Thalen said crossing his arms.

"He's trying to say that we love both of you. You both are like second parents to us," Sylvia stated a smile on her face.

Catalina chuckled looking down at her feet. Abigail was the first to put her arms around the woman. "I know you feel like your not yourself, but that's okay. We care for you anyways," she whispered softly that the other halfas probably didn't hear. Catalina could feel herself choking up if she had been human she was sure she would start crying. Sylvia was the next to join also putting her arms around Catalina. Whatever comforting words were lost to Catalina as she saw the two male halfas also join in the group hug.

"Alright, group hugs," Gwen's loud voice said as her and Robin also join. "I don't know you well, but if you can keep all of them from killing each other, you are alright in my book." Catalina chuckled happily.

"Did you still want me to fulfil my promise?" Vlad asked raising an eyebrow.

"I think I'll take a raincheck on that. Come here," Catalina said feeling a little bit like herself.


End file.
